♥ 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

[necromanswers]

[She gives him a careful once-over, thinking for a long moment. Then, wordlessly, she holds her hand out to him, for his.]

[vamptired]

[Louis blinks at the proffered hand. His gaze darts up to Lup's face, but she needs no words to deliver the meaning. There's a beat, and then he tentatively reaches out to take her hand.]

[necromanswers]

[She turns his hand in hers and does the standard checks: temperature, pulse, breath. Should he allow it, she'll also rest her hand briefly over his heart, the way he had a moment before. Of course she's not expecting anything physical to stand out - she would be surprised if she felt a pulse or a heartbeat - but what she's really reaching out for is magic. She's finely attuned to the way power weaves through a body, living or otherwise, and while she may not be a necromancer, she studied alongside one for a hundred years. She doesn't have a lot of experience with vampires, but that just makes it all the more important to do this properly. If there's any sort of magic restraining his hunger, she's trying to coax it to the surface.

While she works, he might notice that her skin runs cool to the touch, and a silvery sheen covers the colour of her eyes.]

[vamptired]

[She's doing something, and he knows better than to interrupt someone at work. He allows her to check him as she sees fit, watching in muted awe while her eyes change before his very own, wondering if this will allay some of his concerns. He's never seen anything like this before.

His vitals, perhaps to her surprise, are remarkably ordinary. He runs a little warm; he has a pulse and a beating heart; and his chest rises and falls with every breath he takes. Everything suggests that he may as well be human.

Inside is another story.

The magic she seeks doesn't come. His bloodthirst is still there, and it's very much alive and burrowed in his heart, serving as the epicenter of his power. Its presence is dwarfed, however, by another entity that infuses his blood with even more dizzying power, and that's where something rises to meet Lup: a magic foreign to Louis' crowded body, suppressing the rampage of the dreadful entity caged within before it can heat his blood to the boiling point.]

[necromanswers]

[Well. That's a surprise on multiple levels, and it causes her to blink, brows lifting. A living vampire, that's new. Or perhaps that's just how vampires are in his world- why they're called revenants, like vampires as he said, but not exactly the same. Very interesting. Similar to her, it seems, though his warmth is a little envious. The need to drink blood, less so.

Since that power is a more direct draw, she leans into it, tracing arcane fingers around it as one might examine a surface texture, trying to feel out the vibe. It's as alien to her as his species, but there's an air of familiarity to it, one she's felt traces of before. The effect of this place, maybe? Safety measures, to prevent the harm any bloodthirst might inflict on this world's precious saviors? It tends to be a useful side effect each time she's encountered it, though whether he'll find it comforting to be tampered with, she won't know until she asks.

Regardless, she got what she needed out of it, so with a faint smile she leans back and releases her magic, giving the back of his hand a light pat with the one not holding it.]

Looks like you've got a little tether in there, bud. Might be that the gods are keeping you self-aware.

[vamptired]

[It's a little chilly out in Havenwell these days. Even so, her hands have felt noticeably cold against his since the start of this. Has he kept her out here too long, or is this how she tends to run?

Louis waits with bated breath. At Lup's verdict, his eyes widen and hand freezes in place. Relief and disbelief flood him at once, and the revelation is more than a little heart-wrenching for him. What a marvel and tragedy, that only he gets to reap the benefits of newfound freedom while his fellow revenants know no respite.

And what a gift Lup is, he thinks, his heart swelling with gratitude, yet words seem beyond Louis' reach as he tries to process everything.]

That's . . . incredible.

[necromanswers]

It is, isn't it?

[She doesn't even ask what exactly he's referring to. The answer, the magic, the effect it's having on him- all valid incredibleness. Though personally she's taking the credit for it. She knows her worth.]

Have you eaten anything since you got here?

[vamptired]

Here and there. Mostly, I've been taking pills. They're not as potent as what I'm used to drinking, but the supply is far more reliable.

[Enviably so. He swallows.]

Thank you. What you did just now means a lot to me.

[necromanswers]

Hm? It was really stressing you out, huh?

[vamptired]

A revenant who loses their sense of self becomes an undying creature that attacks indiscriminately in search of blood. That's not something I wish on this place, or any world.

[Even now, he worries. Nothing is absolute. He has to be careful, or he could end up hurting someone.]

[necromanswers]

Oh, hell. Yeah, I don't blame you for that one. [She gives her chin a contemplative tap.] ...Maybe try looking up blood on the replicator? The options on those things are surprisingly versatile. Barring that, I have a spell that might help.

[vamptired]

[The pinch in his brow softens just a bit.]

What spell is that? Knowing what you've told me, I think I'll be okay. I got the pills from the replicator, and I haven't had trouble getting more so far . . . But it won't hurt to plan for contingencies.

[necromanswers]

It's something of a creation spell. When I have a fragment of a particular material, I can manifest a lot more of it. So if we can get a drop of blood, I can turn it into a bucket.

[vamptired]

That's . . .

[He knows that Lup is plenty capable. She's told him as much, and now she's shown him. Yet she can still do so much more. She really is incredible.]

I hope that never comes to pass. If it should, though, I'll be in your debt. . . . Thank you again.

[necromanswers]

It can be a dangerous thing, being in someone's debt.

[vamptired]

If it keeps everyone safe, that's a chance I'm willing to take.

[necromanswers]

A sensible answer. If you want to take responsibility, then it's on you to convince someone to give up their blood.

[vamptired]

[He nods.]

If it ever comes down to that, I'll take responsibility for everything.

[That's the least he can do. He's already troubled Lup enough.]

What you did earlier . . . what type of spell was that?

[necromanswers]

It's a variant of Creation. If I have a certain amount of matter on hand, I can reform it into a more substantial size. For example, a single leaf could be used to make an entire tree, within a reasonable size limit.

[vamptired]

[He really can't imagine how that's possible, but there's so much that science can't explain these days.]

And the one before it? Your eyes changed . . .

[necromanswers]

I was trained as an artificer. We have a variety of methods for detecting magic, both the source and type.

[vamptired]

I thought it was something like that. To think you could do it with just a touch . . .

[Struck by a thought, he lifts his head.]

How are you feeling?

[necromanswers]

Mm? No complaints, no problems. Why, what's up?

[vamptired]

It could just be the weather, but your hands felt quite cold to me. Have I kept you too long?

[necromanswers]

Ohhh, that's the issue. No, it's because I'm dead.