♥ 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]

Spoilsport. Ahh, well. Someday I'll find someone to conquer the world with.

[vamptired]

[Which world is that, he wonders.]

. . . There might not be anything. But if you're ever in need of something, let me know.

[necromanswers]

I'll do just that. I love having people in my debt.

[vamptired]

Heh, I suppose some people can't resist the chance.

[necromanswers]

Nor should they! Gratitude is wholesome.

[vamptired]

[His expression fades from a smile to something more pensive, and he sits on her words for a moment. After another, his eyes search for hers.]

I'm glad you're here, Lup.

[necromanswers]

[That catches her off guard, and for a moment she's stunlocked. Wow, he really just came out and said that, huh. What an earnest fella...]

Oh, uh. My pleasure, dude. Happy you're enjoying the party so far.

[vamptired]

I am. It's been quite some time since I last set foot in a place as bustling as this.

[It's not without its troubles. Still, there's beauty in the way its inhabitants find joy where they can.

He sweeps his gaze from the faerie dragon to Lup.]

It wouldn't be the same without everyone, including you.

[necromanswers]

[Oh no, he did it again.]

Not inaccurate! But you might not be saying that so kindly when one of us turns your hair to slime green.

[vamptired]

[Why slime green?]

. . . As long as it doesn't have lasting effects, it should be fine.

[He's thinking from a purely clinical perspective, as evidenced by the crease between his brows. It's not like he can stop people from doing anything.]

[necromanswers]

[....

This guy. He's too nice, and though she can't tell if he'd really be so chill about it or not, she's curious now. She'll have to play with him later, when she'd feel less guilty about it after the fact (since he'd been so honest just now, ugh).]

The interesting thing about magic is that it's very rarely permanent. It's especially difficult to permanently change someone - or something - against their will. Know why that is?

[vamptired]

[Curiosity smooths his brow. That's an interesting thought. He hasn't the faintest idea as to why, or he'd be hazarding a guess right about now.]

No. Why?

[necromanswers]

Because in many cases, especially when it comes to the natural order, perception counts for more than willpower.

[She lifts her hand, coaxing the little faerie dragon to crawl onto it, and weaves the fingers of her other hand above it, arcane energy swirling around it. The dragon's scales begin to shift, waver, and turn grey, almost translucent, as if transforming into a cloud before their eyes. Within seconds, however, the dragon hisses and shivers its body from head to tail, and the energy disperses, leaving its form unchanged as it was before.

Rather than bemoaning the failure of her spell, Lup looks satisfied at the effective demonstration, scratching the creature under the chin and accepting the way it digs its claws into her hand in retaliation, like a kneading kitten.]

This dragon knows that it's a dragon. Sometimes, with magic, you can convince a body that it's something else- a cloud, or a stone statue, or a frog. And for a while, if you catch the mind attached to that body unawares, they might be that other thing. Sooner or later the magic has to let go, though. The mind remembers, the perception of self reminds the body what it's meant to be. The cloud thinks to itself, "I am not a cloud, I am a dragon," and a dragon it remains.

[She moves the dragon back to her shoulder, smirking.]

To use magic is to understand that change is inevitable. Only the most powerful spells can bend mind and body and make it stick.

[vamptired]

[Louis watches the dragon, from the dispelled transformation to the clawing, before bringing a hand to his chin. Doing all that, it really does resemble a kitten. He hopes the claws don't hurt much, though.]

It's not as absolute as I'd thought it was.

[Magic is, well, magic. He's only known them from fiction. Then again, he should know that no one system is the same across countless stories. What Lup says makes a lot of sense if he thinks of magic as the power of persuasion. The demonstration helped, and her magic will probably never cease to amaze him.]

That doesn't make it any less impressive, but it may be for the best. [He lowers his hand.] What do you think?

[Is it a frustrating limitation? Or is it good that perception can serve as a natural defense for the target of a chosen spell?]

[necromanswers]

Mm... I think both sides have merit. Change can be good, change can be bad. Sometimes it's neutral- a necessity for growth. Twisting one thing into another against their will might be how one saves the world. Some would say that's for the best, and others would consider that too high a price. Every time, it's gonna be situational. Again, it's perception. And with it, perspective.

[She shrugs. There's no simple answer for the question, not for her. It's too personal, layers on layers. Twice in her life she's allowed magic to permanently change her, and while she doesn't regret, the second time is harder to call for the best than the first.]

What's good for you personally might not be good for the world. That doesn't make your sense of self wrong. If all caterpillars were perfectly content getting fat eating leaves, and had the power to stay the way they are, a bunch of plants might die out. We'd miss the butterflies. But could you tell them they were wrong? I sure couldn't.

[vamptired]

[In the end, nothing is ever so simple. While everything she says makes an abundance of sense, there's one thing he agrees with absolute certainty, and it's that no one is wrong for choosing to be the way they are. Far too many have suffered at the hands of those who believe otherwise. With that in mind, he gives an emphatic nod.]

. . . I couldn't, either. Everyone deserves to live as they choose.

[necromanswers]

And there you go. Two staples of magic theory: willpower, and balance. Any good wizard's lesson #1.

[vamptired]

It was a good lesson. Magic is far more organic than I first thought it to be . . . I hope your hand's all right, though.

[necromanswers]

Magic is natural, which makes it organic. And my hand's fine, no worries. Scamp's mostly harmless, and I heal pretty fast.

[Relatively speaking, anyway. For a corpse.]

[vamptired]

Then I won't give your friend reason to do it again.

I didn't mean to keep you so long, but it was more than worthwhile—for me, at least.

[necromanswers]

Hey, no problem. If you ever get more questions percolating in your noggin, hit me up. I don't mind, as I'm sure I'll have a few of my own before long.

[Not often you get to grill an alternate-reality vampire.]

[vamptired]

[If there's one thing Louis is taking away from this encounter, it's that Lup has a big heart. He'd express his thanks again if it wouldn't make him a broken record.]

I'll do my best to answer them then. [He gives her a nod as he takes a half step away.] Till next time.

[necromanswers]

Check you later, my dude.

[She gives a lazy hand waggle as she turns, off on her way. What an interesting guy.]