♥ 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

[daikonrose]

[ There's a pause. Kyoko's eyes narrow as she slowly turns her head to look at the man sidelong. ]

Was... that a pun, just now?

[vamptired]

[Louis also pauses as he scans the ice for a muted flicker.]

I suppose it was, yeah.

[daikonrose]

U-unintentional?!

[ Somehow, that makes it even sillier! Kyoko reels back a bit, but that's a mistake, as it throws off her balance. Her arms flail. ]

--uwoh!

[vamptired]

[It's not like he was trying to be funny when he chose his words. That thought is dashed short, however, as his gaze snaps over his shoulder when he hears her exclamation, and then he whips around—nearly falling over in the process—and shoots a hand out to pull her forward by the wrist.

This can only go so well.]

[daikonrose]

Wait--!

[ So, good news: he successfully grabbed her wrist! She is no longer falling backwards!

But the change in momentum has her lurching forward, feet stumbling in a way that wouldn't be a big deal normally, but on ice?

If Louis doesn't move, he's in very real danger of a headbutt to the torso as Kyoko falls towards him. ]

[vamptired]

[He realizes their immediate future as it's happening, which means he has two options: move or stay. Due to his inexperience on the ice, there's no way to salvage this without one or both of them falling. If he escapes now, will Kyoko be able to right herself?

In the split second he has to make his choice, he decides that it's not a risk worth taking. Instead, he braces himself and wraps his arms around her back when she collides into him. The resultant impact knocks the air out of his lungs and sends him careening down. It's a very silent affair from his end, save for the dull thud of his back hitting the icy floor.]

[daikonrose]

[ Down they go, with another yelp from Kyoko as they hit the ice--well, as Louis hits the ice. Kyoko doesn't sustain much damage herself, so there's only a stunned moment or two before she rolls off to kneel beside him; the man's already suffered enough, she doesn't want to squish him too. ]

H-hey! You--your head, did you hit your head? Your neck??

[vamptired]

[It was an unpleasant fall, but not an unbearable one. Louis' expression isn't one of pain as he slowly props himself upright on his forearms and turns an intact head toward Kyoko.]

I'm okay. Are you all right?

[daikonrose]

[ As he sits up, she holds her hands up, giving the international signal for slow down there, buddy. ]

I'm fine! Should you be moving? You're sure nothing's broken? Like your spine??

[vamptired]

[He slows down, if mostly to appease her.]

Don't worry; it was just a fall. My spine is fine.

[So are his chest and neck. The ease with which he sits up is his proof.]

[daikonrose]

Just a fall, you say...

[ But there's a heavy sigh of relief when he appears to genuinely still be in working order. ]

Thank you... I'm lucky I was with such a durable guy for that.

[vamptired]

[He gives Kyoko a once-over. It's gracious of her to thank him after that disastrous attempt at salvaging the situation.]

Sorry. If I hadn't grabbed you, this wouldn't have happened.

[daikonrose]

No... please. I should control myself from overreacting to imagined puns.

[vamptired]

[He bends his legs, drawing them in close to start climbing onto his feet.]

Do you dislike them?

[Part of it was intentional, but not to that extent.]

[daikonrose]

I don't dislike them, but saying I like them is too strong.

[ After a moment of just watching him, she starts her own clumsy clamber to her feet. ]

But as ways to die go, that would have been way too embarrassing! Whether you like puns or not!

[vamptired]

[As he gets back onto his rental blades, he eyes the ice between them for the telltale flicker of lights. Are mermaids skittish to sudden sounds? He cranes his head toward Kyoko.]

Those injuries were what I wanted to avoid. As long as you're all right, I don't have complaints.

[daikonrose]

I'd say you're entitled to at least a few complaints, though.

[ Gosh, does anything ruffle this guy? ]

I'm usually not rescued by people before I've even learned their names, so... really, thank you.

[vamptired]

[He pauses. Right, names.

What he did was basic decency, but he won't dismiss her, either.]

Then I'm glad to have been of help. And . . . my name is Louis.

[daikonrose]

Kyoko Mogami. [ There's a sober dip of her head, because she doesn't have the guts to try bowing after having already sent them both down on the ice once. No more disturbances to her balance allowed. ] Ah... you're still up for the mermaid search, then?

[vamptired]

[Smart. He nods.]

If you don't mind. Nice to meet you, Kyoko.

[daikonrose]

I don't mind! [ She's already back with fresh, earnest eagerness. ] This isn't a quest I can abandon so easily!

[vamptired]

Let's keep looking while we can.

[At this point, it's anyone's guess whether they'll stumble across those lights again. At least it'll be better to say they tried than to leave off on this note. Louis turns around with a slight sway, facing their originally intended direction.]

[daikonrose]

Aah, I hope I didn't scare them off for good with all that...

[ But she pushes on despite her fretting, eyes trained carefully over the ice this time. ]

[vamptired]

[It's possible that they did, given that he never glimpsed the lights in all the times he fell. Or perhaps their little racket has attracted attention, and maybe Kyoko spies a little something in return as they start to move. As for Louis, he's looking in the opposite direction.]

[daikonrose]

[ For a moment or two it all seems hopeless, no hint that anything had ever lived below the ice. Even when the first little flicker catches Kyoko's eye again, she's not sure she didn't imagine it out of desperation--but before she can talk herself into disregarding it, another little sparkle shines through.

Kyoko pulls in a sharp breath, but then holds it, biting her lip--don't make any sound this time! In the interest of keeping the silence, rather than say anything to Louis she reaches over to pluck at his sleeve, so she can catch his eye and point. Look!! This way! ]