♥ December (Ranir) Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

December (Ranir) Event Log

As another year winds to a close, the air grows sharp with a wintery chill; the perfect weather for curling up with someone under a cozy blanket with some warm hot cocoa. To contrast the cold weather comes a distinctly festive warmth to the city itself; it's some holiday season, even if the natives still can't quite grasp what. While recovery from the recent worm-based catastrophe is still an ongoing thing, the natives are going through with the festivities as they've learned to celebrate: Decorations strung about the city are a bit haphazard and in all manner of colors both holiday-themed and simply colorful in general, the spirit and enthusiasm are certainly there.

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❥ PROMPT I: See You Next Level

Residents who venture past the wall to the northwest of the arena to visit the fishing pond might find an unusual sight this month: it's frozen over. This is kind of a big deal, because the city hasn't had a substantial amount of open water in- well, no one quite knows how long! It seems to have totally frozen overnight, which is definitely unusual, but hardly the strangest thing to ever happen in Havenwell. Examining the ice will find it sturdy and solid, a good 6 inches thick at minimum. It is safe to walk on, and more importantly...

Excited for a new experience after all the glum and gloom, some local metalworkers are creating skate attachments that can be adjusted for size and connected to the shoes (or the feet, in the case of the local robotic population) of anyone who wants to give skating a try. Visitors to the area will find a booth set up, occasionally manned but mostly left as a trust exercise, with a collection of these devices that are free to use. Please take as many pairs as your party requires and skate to your heart's content! As a courtesy, borrowers are asked to return the skates once they're finished with them, but if you're really itching for a pair, the booth has the equivalent of a QR code you can scan with your communicator and commission a personalized pair.

It seems that part of the city is extra cold this season, because an influx of snow has practically drowned the arena, leaving a thick layer across the entirety and high piles along the sides. Locals have cleared the entrances and done their best to keep it functional, but those wishing to use the facility might find the ground far less sturdy than usual. You can use it as extra training, or maybe just give in to the urge and have fun with it instead. Go sledding, have a snowball fight!

❥ PROMPT II: Fresh or Frozen

Purveyors of the fishing part of the new rink might be unhappy to have lost their hobby, but hey, no one's stopping you from carving a hole in the ice and giving it a go regardless. There's bound to still be something down there, though perhaps not what you'd expect. While you're out at the lake with another person, if you should happen to look into the water through a hole or the ice itself, you might occasionally see a series of dancing lights flitting around beneath you, mysterious but innocuous. Sometimes they disappear if you stare at them too long. Sometimes they follow you. If curiosity gets the better of you, maybe you ought to try dropping a line - or a hand - in to see what it is. If you're feeling really brave and don't mind the cold, you could even take a dive in and see what's going on up close. (Funny: it's not nearly as cold as you'd expect it to be, considering the frigid circumstances.) And there's no reason to worry about the rink, either. Likely through whatever actually turned the pond to ice, any holes carved into the ice somehow manage to freeze again overnight, as though it was never broken in the first place.

Whatever method you choose, these dancing lights will swirl around hook or hands, pulsing gently, until that light bursts and manifests into something familiar. Something you've been wanting, perhaps, or something you once had and have missed dearly. Maybe something you hadn't thought about at all, but would bring you delight. You can pull it from the waters and find it intact and undamaged by the cold or the water, alive if it is a living creature, though it appears to be hibernating. Dry it off, take it home, and check on it in the morning; you will find your gift as whole and well as if you'd plucked it from wherever you'd find it back home. Do with it what you choose, it's yours now. For those who might have the clever idea to try fishing more than once, surprises may await in the form of...a waterlogged old shoe? An empty tin can? A broken fishing lure? The possibilities are as endless as the objects are useless.

For those who may not have any creature or object of note they need or want, it is also possible for fishing to produce a small crystal, faintly glowing with some form of magic. Leaving the crystal by one's bedside overnight will result in a peculiar but pleasant dream; fulfilling one's heartfelt desire. Whether it's wanting to see somewhere back on your homeworld, getting closure with someone not in Havenwell, or hang gliding off of Everest, you will be able to see your desire in a dream and awake comfortable and well-rested in bed the next day.

This is a regain event! One regain is allowed per character, and it can be anything (within reason) that would fit within the Item Regain: Medium (100 point) category on the Activity Rewards page. Like with AC Rewards, regains must be approved by mods prior to regaining them, so please use the form below and comment to the Regain Request thread.

Player:
Character:
Item requested:

<b>Player:</b> <b>Character:</b> <b>Item requested:</b>

❥ PROMPT III: Snow Problems

As the weather shifts to something seasonally chilly, on occasion some small patches of clouds can be seen in Havenwell--specifically, hovering over the heads of offworlders. These localized little clouds find people to stick to and follow them a couple of feet overhead to shower them with a gentle dusting of snow, so hopefully you have an umbrella handy. And while the snow can be just snow and nothing more, to others it might have one (or even several at once) effects to it.

Cheers To You: No matter how much one drinks or how they choose to mix their cocktails, they will find themselves completely impervious to the ill effects of alcohol. No hangover, but also no fun to earn it in the first place.

Hand it Over: Some with their own personal snow clouds may feel nothing odd except for a slight tingle in their dominant hand. Whether one stumbles upon the actual effect or not, it is a very simple change: the power of their unarmed punch becomes superpowered and several times stronger than normal.

Sticks and Stones: Still others may feel completely normal and go about their usual day's business with absolutely no awareness of any change but a persistent snowfall overhead. However, should they meet with anything that might ordinarily hurt, they will find that they have twenty-four hours of complete invulnerability starting from when their snow cloud latched on to them.

Time and Tribulation: Perhaps along with the slight chill comes a sudden awareness that one is a bit shorter than usual. Or taller? It would seem that yet another odd side effect of the little snow clouds is that one has aged an entire decade–in either direction, rendering them either younger or older. Luckily, the changes seem to stop at only physical…at least this time.

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This event will run from December 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!

Comments

Vianca [ota]

[pinkmin]

✿ Snow Problems
It wasn't super uncommon to see a little girl hanging out in the snow. It was just a different little girl than some of the population was used to at first glance. The long white hair and deep red eyes were striking features, and that bright pink flower was cute... and maybe a bit reminiscent of a purple flower that normally sat in the same place. Perhaps with closer inspection, keen eyed observers would notice that hey actually this new little girl looked a whole lot like that other equally little girl. How about that! Huh! Sure was a whole lot of snow following this one around.

Surprise it's Vianca and sometimes this month she was her normal Havenwell pink self, but sometimes she was the image of a Vianca that used to be. I don't have icons of her white form anymore but hey we can pretend in any prompt you want, ok.


✿ Next Level
Despite how much Vianca had spent out in the snow back home, it had truly just been that. She'd either read her books or just quietly existed surrounded by the silent blankets of white. It had been nice. It had been calming, even if it had been to forget.

She did not harbor the same feelings of wanting to be forgotten though, and she didn't have to read books all the time now. She was a rowdy girl now! Out to do rowdy activities! Things she'd never done at school! Like skating out on the frozen lake! What a very rowdy thing to do.

So here she was with blades strapped on her feet, raring to go and...
...stand perfectly still on the ice with her arms jutted straight out for balance. She was moving ever so slightly forward due to the nature of skates and the fact that a breeze could probably knock her over. There she went, millimetre by millimetre. The epitome of Rowdy Girl.

Maybe... maybe give her a push?


✿ Fresh or Frozen
There was a hole. Where it came from, Vianca did not know. She was not going close enough to truly get a good look. She did keep venturing past it though, and it always seemed like something was there. Something bright and wispy and altogether curious enough to keep her coming back to hover by the edge of the pond and look. She'd try to wander away and then she'd end up right back at the same spot. It was very curious. She wandered back off again.

The next time she came back, she was carrying the longest stick she could find overhead towards the edge of the frozen water.


✿ Petals & Pages and Wildcards
The little book 'shop' in the shopping district near Ohma's temple was of course open through out the month for all those looking for something a little warmer. Come in and warm up on a cozy couch with some coffee or tea, purchase a delightful cookie courtesy of Affurgatto. Have a cuddle. Enjoy.

Vianca could also be found at Ohma's Temple or the younger Caelum Household for any other tiny person needs. [Action tags perfectly fine!]

Petals & Pages

[vamptired]

Nothing made Louis' heart pound like the sight of bookshelves, no matter how sparse. In a world like this one, where stories were bound to a screen, it also gave him pause upon entering the shop.

The quaint interior held his gaze where it could wander as he slowly approached the front counter. It soon fell on the bonsai—Cameron?—and then he lifted his head in search of the keeper. His usual attire was ill-suited for the cold, but that meant little to him; he was in no rush for warmth, so he would greet the keeper before making himself at home.

[pinkmin]

There was a door just beyond the front counter that had been shut when Louis first came in. It wasn't too long after he'd started to look around that it opened and a bundle of festive plants came out. Or rather, a very tiny person carrying that bundle in her arms. She was quick to peek over it at the counter, bright blue eyes landing on Louis. Oh! So she had heard the bell.

"Hello," she greeted softly from behind the holly. This was someone new. "Welcome to Petals and Pages."

[vamptired]

She's . . . small, he thought, and with quite a bundle in those tiny arms. But considering the door from which she'd emerged, she could only be someone in charge of manning the shop, and that meant she was doing work.

"Hello," he replied politely. "Are you the proprietor?"

[pinkmin]

All of the above was correct. Good job, Louis.

There was a very slight tilt of Vianca's head at that. The proprietor. That was certainly the case, but no one had ever used that particular term before. What a dignified way to put it.

"Yes, that is correct," she confirmed as she hoisted her bundle up on to the counter. Decorating could wait! "Please let me know if you have questions."

[vamptired]

Customer service was part of the job, but he didn't like the thought of disrupting her too much if she had things to do. He decided then, craning his head toward the nearest bookshelf, that he'd get to the point and settled quickly.

"Now that I'm here, I was wondering as to your selection. I haven't been here long, but this is my first time seeing one like it . . . "

Paper books. Books he could rest on his lap and whose pages he could turn. Precious books as he'd always known them that were such a rarity around these parts.

[pinkmin]

She followed the arc of his motion, looking at the shelf for a moment. Ah. It was still a sparse shelf, but what was there still held special places in her heart.

She nodded, and without waiting for further prompting, bustled out from behind the counter to offer him her hand. Did they actually need to hold hands to walk a few feet over to the shelf? No, but the offer was still there and free for him to take if he so chose.

"It is still a bit small," she said a touch regretfully, "but it is varied. There are some fictional works, as well as some educational topics."

[vamptired]

He didn't expect her to come out and proffer her hand. But it was a welcome offer and he took hers once the surprise passed, noting the regret in her tone.

"That's more than I was expecting," he said honestly. And it was by far more than enough. "Are the contents native to Havenwell?"

[pinkmin]

Pleased that he'd taken her hand, she wrapped her tiny fingers a little more securely around his. Very good. Books needed paid for somehow.

"No. None of them are." Leading him to the shelf, her regrets shifted to sounding a little more pleased even if her expression was still. "They've come from the worlds of different off-worlders."

[vamptired]

They were from different worlds. Who gathered them? Were they pooled together by various offworlders? How many worlds did these shelves represent? Questions swam through Louis' head one after another as he looked upon the shelf before him with wonder.

"Amazing . . . So that's why they're bound in paper."

[pinkmin]

Well if you ever felt like saying those questions out loud, Louis, perhaps you’d receive some answers. Maybe. Vianca only held a few of them.

“Yes. They make things a little more familiar,” she said softly as she looked up at her little collection. It was small, but it was good. “It feels a little like my library. It had books from many worlds as well.”

Next Level

[5thchild]

[ no push will be given, mostly because Kaworu would not do such a thing and also because he has no idea what skating is. he never saw a frozen lake, much less people on the ice skating.

So he is patiently watching Vianca moving oh so slowly, while sitting at the edge of the frozen lake. Eventually, he decides to ask: ] What are you doing?

[pinkmin]

[A little surprised that someone was talking at her, Vianca straightened up a bit.]

I am-- [Her motion from before had introduced a little more momentum to her crawl across the ice, and she sucked in a little breath. Whoa!]

... Going to skate.

[Eventually.]

[5thchild]

[ at least she didn't fall! ]

I see.

What is skate? [ because it truly doesn't look like much. Not that he is judging, no; kaworu is learning ]

[pinkmin]

[Not yet.]

Skate is-- [She wobbled.] Oh. 'To skate' would be a verb, but you need skates to skate.

[She moved her arms, to try and motion with them, but ended up slowly (tho faster than she had been going) gliding backwards towards the snow. This was not intended, but she was going with it because she did not know what to do about it. Here, uh, let her join you.]

[5thchild]

[ a verb then. But Kaworu nods; he needs skates to skate. Alright.

And Kaworu watches her glide backwards ] And the point is to glide with the skates? Like that? [ it looks slightly awkward but who is he to judge? Lilin know best (maybe) ]

[pinkmin]

[See the problem was that there were no Lilin here to know best. Vianca kept going until she bumped into the edge of the bank and promptly sat. Sitting was definitely just to sit and not because she'd toppled backwards.]

... Not like that. [She sighed a little.]

It is supposed to be more graceful. I have never done it before, so I am not familiar with how to... move.

[5thchild]

[ yes, that was totally she meant to do and Kaworu actually believes that. maybe. He is... questioning it, to be honest ]

I see. perhaps you need someone to hold you, so you don't fall? [ like you did just now, Vianca ]

[pinkmin]

[She considered this deeply.]

...Perhaps. It does seem that people like to do this while holding hands.

[At least based on her observations. How many of those pairs remained upright though… Questionable.]

[5thchild]

At least supporting each other you can attempt not to fall. [ makes sense, in kaworu's eyes. However, one of them should probably know how to skate for that. ]

Perhaps floating is easier. [ kaworu can float, and yeah, it sounds a lot easier ]

fresh or frozen

[awooligan]

[The wolf watches Vianca's curious, long range inspection for a while from a safe distance, and huffs a little when she wanders off. When he sees her return, stick in tow, he hops out of sight. Completely unrelated, after two or no minutes, Clifford walks up alongside her, hands stuffed in his coat. Definitely didn't just find somewhere to shift and circle around behind her, nope.]

Hey, Vi. Whatcha got there?

five thousand years later

[pinkmin]

[These were definitely things that did not happen. For all Vianca knew, this was just Cliff appearing! Just like a normal teenage boy would do! She looked up at him, the cold masking whatever tinge of pink had decided to spring up at the nickname. (Aaaaa.)]

A stick.

[Behold it. She looked back at the ice contemplatively.]

There are things in the ice.

[awooligan]

[He beholds. It earns a nod of approval.]

So you're going to poke 'em free?

[It's an awfully long stick with no net at the end. Safety was the important part, but he still has to imagine it'll be a slow endeavor.]

[pinkmin]

[She nodded. Paused. Nodded again.]

Or they might have claws or tendrils. They could climb on if they wanted.

[awooligan]

[Wow. Most of his exposure to kids has been his little brother, which would find that scenario absolutely nightmarish, so it gets a surprised laugh from him. Well, she did say she went to some underground fighting rings.]

Okay, not a possibility I'd considered. Thanks for the warning.

[He doesn't think anything will come up, but at least he has the option to be ready for that, now. She was more used to this weird shit than he was.]

What's the plan after that?