♥ 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.

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❥ 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.

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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

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn moved to sit on the branch properly and lean over enough to give Noctis a halfheartedly annoyed look. Rude, nephew.]

Hardly as bad as it could be.

[and believe him he knows all about sleeping in worse places!]

[carbungle]

[Utterly unapologetic.]

Not as good as a bed, though.

[scourgingstars]

No, but I enjoy being outside.

[Wrapping his legs around the branch, Ardyn pushed himself off to hang upside down and end up a little closer to Noctis' eye level.]

Besides, it seemed foolish to waste a perfectly good source of shade.

[carbungle]

Guess that's true.

[He can hardly point fingers, considering his earliest instinct was 'climb tree' and he had no plan beyond that.]

Sorry for waking you up. I didn't know you were up here.

[scourgingstars]

[He shrugged, which was probably a much stranger looking gesture when upside down.]

Perhaps I should have expected as much, knowing our collective habit of being in high places where we probably shouldn't.

[carbungle]

I used to hang off the side of the Citadel sometimes, when I was left unsupervised.

[AKA when Ignis wasn't watching and he thought he wouldn't get caught.]

[scourgingstars]

Oh, that was exactly how I avoided being found for combat lessons as a child.

[eventually, gilgamesh learned to look up]

But isn't it a good deal taller now?

[carbungle]

[The mental visual is pretty funny, no lie.]

Yeah, the family sure liked to build up. It's like fifty floors.

[scourgingstars]

I think Prompto did show me a picture of it, some time ago.

...Just how high up were you? [in the telltale tone of 'just how dumb were you being exactly']

[carbungle]

I dunno. Maybe halfway?

[Don't you judge him his thrillseeking!!]

[scourgingstars]

Halfw--halfway? What would you have done if y-...

...actually, I suppose not much would have happened if you fell, we would have to try rather hard to actually hit the ground.

[carbungle]

Oh, yeah, definitely. [He has to laugh at that one, the expression is too good and the memories too... relevant.] When I started getting into proper magic training, we focused super hard on phasing so I'd learn to drop from big heights without breaking my legs. Or other things. I never did fall off, though. I knew Dad'd kill me if I survived the drop.

[scourgingstars]

...Well, I can't exactly lecture you for that much. I almost broke a bone or two learning that the hard way.

[aren't you glad you got the hellraiser genes and not the killjoy ones, noct]

[carbungle]

[infinitely glad. if he has to have shit luck elsewhere he may as well be blessed in this department.]

...Yeah, pretty sure we were given fast healing and potion-making power to save us from our own magic.

[scourgingstars]

Oh, of that I have little doubt, else most of us would likely make it to adulthood a mess of broken bones and bad decisions.

[carbungle]

Some of us end up that way regardless.

[His own is a hot mess of problems, both seen and unseen. Somehow he lived! And continued to discover ways to make new problems for himself.]

[scourgingstars]

Well, no one's perfect.

[Look at Ardyn, for example, he's a mess of daemons hanging from a tree branch.]

[carbungle]

Perfect is kinda boring, anyway. Not that I like being a mess, but better that than an uninteresting, totally sheltered life.

[scourgingstars]

Well said. [He flipped himself upright again before dropping down to a branch a little closer. Easier to talk when one of them wasn't quite so much higher up, after all.] Better to be a little bit of a mess than have things be so uneventful to the point of madness.

[carbungle]

[Noctis meanwhile parks himself on the branch and lets his legs hang. They're apparently hanging out in a tree now, so may as well get comfortable.]

We're pretty spry for a couple of busted-up bodies.

[scourgingstars]

I believe that is called ‘making the best of a bad situation’, or at least something similar. I’d certainly say we do our best, at any rate.

[carbungle]

No doubt.

[Or as close to their best as the world expects from them, anyway. They can be forgiven for a little slacking off, life's been cruel enough.]

Any theories on the tree, or do we just chalk it up to "city's weird again"?

[scourgingstars]

The latter, naturally. I could not even begin to guess what series of events would cause 'there's a giant tree here now', so the reasoning is well beyond me.

[carbungle]

The gods here really want us to become birds, obviously.

[Though they're sort of proving that point now. They're practically nesting up here.]

[scourgingstars]

They might just be on to something, if our immediate reaction is any indication.