♥ May (Ealom) Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

May (Ealom) Event Log

Despite the fact that spacetime has been a bit questionable in recent days, the seasons carry on as they should. Spring has begun to grow warmer, the scent of flourishing local flowers often in the air as they are set out to decorate native shops and homes with a burst of lively color. On a larger scale, the march of time flows as inexorable and steady as ever; the question is if that will remain the case for long.

---

❥ PROMPT I: Days of Future Past

Randomly throughout the city and following days, the scenery immediately before you may begin to waver as if rising steam distorts the air. The aura shimmers, then suddenly solidifies into a thin, golden line that abruptly opens sideways and upwards forming a window, which cannot be physically interacted with. Stand before this "window" long enough, and you may begin to see imagines of a past Havenwell...

1. For those who have explored the city limits of Havenwell, they might be familiar with the ruins. If a character is atop a roof and looking out at the city scape, this vision depicts these ruins as destitute no longer. Instead, the buildings remain upright, tall, and in pristine condition. The tops of these buildings are crowned with small gardens, and their terraced architecture allows for flower-covered vines to spill all the way from the roofs to the paved streets below. The metropolis glimmers like a treasure trove in the waning sunlight, peaceful and grand. Continue watching this vision, and little lights within the buildings begin to blink on as evening dips into night. Within some buildings are those still toiling late at work, while other residents greet their families as they return.

Curiously, some of those preparing to have their dinners with their family seem to engage in some sort of familial prayer, joining hands and reciting words. Others link hands and stand with their backs touching, tipping their heads so that the back of their heads touch, a ritual that some off-worlders may recognize.

As for appearances within this window to the past, the locals are now flesh-and-blood. They are humanoid in appearance, bipedal, with two sets of eyes, one nose, and a mouth, but some have a few others features. Some sport feline-like ears puffing atop their heads, others have some that are distinctly more mouse-like, rounded as they converse. A family of those with scales, horns, and a tail, similar to the statues in Rawna's temple, begin to dine. A loving couple toasts to each other, and as they raises their arms, their luxurious wings almost sweep the ground.

2.For those who are walking by the research towers, another window appears, depicting how the facility appeared before. Two researchers leave the campus in good spirits, sitting on a bench just outside. One of them holds a clipboard while the other sports a briefcase and thermos. While you cannot peer further into the vision, a snippet of their conversation can be heard clearly.

"OM1 was a success, wasn't it?" The research chimes, bringing a hand rub at the feathers upon his chin. "That's great news. Thing's get better for the planet soon."

"Yeah, I can't wait to get out of this body in general," the second researcher laughs as her pointed, fluffy ears atop her head swivel in the direction of her companion. "I'm tired of these ol' bones already."

"Old? You're a decade younger than me!"

3. Outside of the temple of Ainea, two locals, their bodies fully metallic, are having a discussion. One is draped in the stole of a priest, while the other wears a white lab coat.

"The satellite didn't work," the researcher says. Frustration and defeat can be heard within his voice. "We haven't given up on making a beacon, but we can't afford to send another. It's up to the congregation now."

"Peace, friend," the priest replies. Although his tone is calm, it is no less morose. "It's in the gods' hands now."

These scenes, among others (which you are free to write, taking inspiration from the lore collection along with some newly released entries!), can play out for passers-by, scattered throughout the city for the rest of the month. Some are unique, some will repeat; some are inconsequential, some feel startlingly important, as though you can feel what those in the memory must have felt in the moment. It's a strange experience, overall. As if the world is remembering itself.

❥ PROMPT II: The Antiques Homeshow

With all the windows to time opening up here and there in town, the city is buzzing with excitement and nostalgia as the natives' memory banks are jump-started by familiar sights thought long gone. Seeing their old selves and visions of their old haunts has them invigorated in a way most haven't felt in centuries. But as time wears on, people will start to notice that the windows aren't just for looking through.

It starts with a giant tree, nearly 4 stories tall and meters thick, popping up in the middle of the Entertainment District's streets. Then scattered reports of outer city buildings and areas suddenly disappearing, replaced with tents or campfires. Finally, it happens - your own home is now host to these weird time windows and your things are experiencing the same problems as areas around the city.

Maybe your replicator has just turned into an actual pantry, with perishable food items that may or may not be familiar to you. Weird fruits and vegetables, something that seems like flour? Or is it salt? A salty flour that’s apparently some sort of yeast? Who knows! Good luck finding out. What about your bed? What used to be a comfortable double with plush pillows is abruptly a straw mat with mice! Or a giant four-post canopy king-sized bed made for a room that is definitely 6 times bigger than what you have, and it has completely subsumed your room to the point where you can’t open the door anymore. Hopefully you’re cool with climbing in and out of the windows instead!

Maybe the changes are less obtrusive for some. Their favorite coffee cup is now a jeweled goblet. Their clothes have gone from the height of modern fashion to the height of “what era is this?” fashion. Their carefully cultivated garden is now a wild, overgrown jungle! The time windows seem to be sending in objects from every era, past and future, creating havoc both big and small across the city.

Thankfully, however, these changes don’t seem to be permanent. If the object is removed from its window area, it reverts back to its original form over time. However, damaging anything from the past has unforeseen consequences in the future, so do be careful. Cutting down that tree could mean a building in the future doesn’t get built, or removing a flower from the jungle may lead to the extinction of a known Havenwell plant! Or maybe it does nothing. Time is weird that way. Good luck with stepping on that butterfly effect!

❥ PROMPT III: Powering the Conduits

Another joint announcement comes from the researchers and priests, and they are happy to report they've been investigating and fine-tuning the prototype crystal conduits as developed by a few off-worlders. These past two weeks, they've been vigorously testing and retesting the prototype's effects on the caustic atmosphere of the outside world. Whereas the first version caused a thinning of what heavy, mysterious miasma hangs in the air, it was unable to project a proper barrier or last long. They hope to refine what the dedicated off-worlders started, and for that, they need volunteers.

Specifically, they need volunteers to help charge these individual crystal-conduits' with the power generated through touch! Researchers will be handing out these small, amber-colored crystals to those who are interested in helping, encouraging the off-worlder to wear the and hold someone's hand, hug them, or be especially lovely-dovey-kissy-wissy with whomever their SO may be. This is in the name of science, it's very important. But be warned, since these are still being tested, a few unlocking people may have experience a couple side effects:

Creating One's Own Personal Barrier: It seems rather counter-intuitive, but when the crystals are overcharged, they may automatically project a barrier that expands, pulses in an unstable fashion, and then shrinks around the wearer and whomever they're engaging in touch, trapping you both. Thankfully, this will last a few minutes at most before the barrier vanishes.

Siphoning Power: Some of the crystals may have been accidentally programed to take too much power from those wearing the crystal-conduit, causing whomever is wearing the gem to rapidly begin to deteriorate in energy and health. Effects can be a little as feeling tired, to outright collapsing.

When your crystal-conduit is fully charged, the researchers ask that they be delivered back to the towers for further analysis.

---

This event will run from 15 May to 31 May. 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

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Comparatively, yeah, that's him. The luckiest bastard here.

"It's way nicer than what was there before," not to thoroughly undersell his own work, but there's really no denying this new (hopefully temporary) garden is way more impressive. That said, "Did you... want to get a closer look?"

Inspiration for your own yard? Maybe just more knowledge on what kinds of plants there could be on this planet?

[necromanswers]

"Uh, sure. I'm not much of a green thumb, but who knows, maybe it'll feel magical or whatever." That's more her forte than botany or whatnot, and this is a decidedly magical effect.

She could wait for him to open the gate, but instead she just goes ahead and vaults herself over the fence. "Okay! Give me the grand tour."

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Whup, there she goes...! He would have been more than happy to let her in but that works just as well, and wins Lup a suitably impressed look.

"Magical... maybe?" About as much as any other weird changes might feel, he figures, but, that's not something he'd be able to pick up on personally. Good thing Lup is here to save the day and solve the mystery, perhaps.

"It looks like it's mostly flowers," he hasn't gotten a good, solid look at it all just yet, but there's plenty of big, impressive leafy foliage and colorful blossoms to look over. None of it strikes him as charmed or enchanted in any way, just very foreign. "But I guess some of them might be herbs or vegetables, I don't know if I'd trust them enough to test them out though."

[necromanswers]

"Honestly most flowers work pretty well in tea, if you're feeling adventurous enough to try. Of course, I'd recommend having a healer type on standby if you did... humans can be a little squishy, I know."

She follows him over to the garden, crouching down to look at the contents. She's lived long enough and experienced enough worlds that her encounters with plant life is pretty varied, and she did live with a plant fetishist botanist for a hundred years... still, there are plenty that are still alien to her. She ponders for a long moment, then points.

"Try that one. Bit of milk, no sugar. It's not a bad steep, almost fruity."

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Just don't go winking at any of the plants to see if they wink back and everyone should be fine.

"Are you sure?" He did just voice his skepticism of the edibility of everything here, but he can't help but be intrigued when Lup sounds this confident about it. He squats down next to her to get a better look at the plant in question. "I've never tried brewing tea from flowers before."

[necromanswers]

"Have you tried all the teas at Affurgato? A few of them are made with flowers." She smirks and shrugs her shoulders. "Well, it's your call whether you test it or not. But I'm confident you won't die."

[hedgehogsdilemma]

'Won't die' sure is an interesting bar to be clearing, but it's not like he's never asked for just that much sometimes. He carefully reaches out to trace his fingers over those petals, like doing that is going to unlock ~secrets~ hidden within the flowers, and gives a contemplative hum. Hm. Hmmmmm.

"Do... you have to dry the flowers first, or anything? Or do you brew them fresh...?"

Perhaps. He can give this a shot. Possibly.

[necromanswers]

"Eh, you can do both. What's better really depends on you preference, so give each a shot and see how you like it. Drying them would make them last longer, though, obviously."

She ain't about to tell you how to drink your tea, sir. ...Outside of the advice she already gave, at least.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

She's being very helpful, at least Shinji hopes that's her goal here! If they aren't going to be able to chase these plants away, may as well consume.

"I wonder if they would stay even after this space goes back to normal." A point in favor of brewing them fresh, either way. He doesn't really know if it's his business to be offering, considering that these are definitely not plants that he grew, and he doesn't know what kind of repercussions taking things off of them might have, but, "Did you want to take some to try out, too?"

[necromanswers]

"Sure, why not? Might as well, if you don't mind handing a few over." She can at least show that she's not afraid to practice what she preaches. And maybe it'll give him more confidence in trying it himself, if she shows she's not afraid of them. And hey, who knows? These could be totally weird variants. So if something goes tits-up and she's in the same boat, nobody can accuse her of tricking him.

...Or they could, but they'd be jerks. So there.