♥ 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

[tempusfinis]

[ Accepting charity from a stranger after he's already gone out of his way to help? Machina has to refuse. ] That's generous of you, but don't worry about it. [ By getting a job (a normal job! not paid via a scholarship to be a child soldier!), which he'll do eventually.

Machina manages to bring himself up to sit on the bench, exhaling out slowly with the effort it takes to sit upright. ]

But if you feel like helping out, I was trying to help out with the-- [ What did they call them? ] conduits, earlier. But I think they need more than one person for it to work.

[this_loser]

[He tries not to be too obvious as he hovers, making sure Machina gets onto the bench without incident. Then he perches on the other end.]

Oooh. I see. [It's making more sense now.] You're gonna find a lot of problems around here can be solved with contact.

[And with that, he offers a hand.]

[tempusfinis]

[ Machina glances at the proffered hand, then after a moment, he places his into the other's palm. ....He's. Not sure what he had expected to happen with the conduit. Maybe for it to start glowing brightly? Rather than that, it seems that the effect is more subtle.

Subtle or not, however, this is the first time Machina has seen definite proof that touch is able to carry some sort of magical charge to it. Exhaustion momentarily forgotten, he stares.

His words come slowly, speaking under his breath. ]

...Crystals, it really is true.

[this_loser]

[Prompto is less concerned with whatever is happening with the conduit, and more focused on whether this is actually helping the young man.

He grins.]

Pretty crazy, huh? Who'd'a thought just holding hands with someone would be so helpful?

[tempusfinis]

Yeah.... [ He murmurs, distantly. Involuntarily, his fingers twitch within the other's hand as he continues to watch the conduit charge.

While his face hasn't quite recovered from its pallor, he does appear a degree more relaxed than before. Perhaps, seeing this in the act has reassured him. At length, he clears his throat, firming his voice again as he repeats: ] Yeah.

[ Machina raises his gaze, looking at the stranger's friendly expression. ] It seems so simple of a way to help the world. But it works. [ No fighting, no bloodshed. No war, no forgetting the dead. Even though the proof is right there, it's difficult to reconcile it. ]

[this_loser]

[Aside from a slight pressure from the hold, Prompto keeps his hand still. This feels good, like positive. He's worried about that complexion, but it's good that other is more relaxed.]

It works. It's...nice. It's a nice way to save the world.

[tempusfinis]

[ Machina's not entirely sure what he's baffled by. The fact that a world can be saved by literally holding hands...? That theoretically he doesn't need to march with some army, bringing back nametags of those who won't be remembered just to feel as if he's done something helpful? Or maybe it's how tragically laughable it is, that the state of this world had gotten to this point when it was so simple a way to maintain it in the first place.

Machina raises up his free hand, running it partly through the long fringe of his hair. His voice is still low, gravely with his tiredness, but there's a feeling of awe as he continues to regard the conduit. ] You said it. No fighting... Just... this.

Makes me wonder how they got to this point when the solution was so simple.

[this_loser]

[Prompto hums in agreement. But he also doesn't want to paint the wrong picture here. While things are pretty nice and peaceful, if sometimes weird and irritating, it wasn't always barrier-filtered sunshine and sylleblossoms.]

There's been some fighting, but not often. Last time it was worms coming up to snack on our robot friends.

As to how...I think that's something we're still trying to figure out. But maybe they didn't realize the danger they were in until it was too late.

[tempusfinis]

[ W o rms… ew. But also: sus. ]

I thought the barrier kept this place safe… [ And that it expanded …? Did it grow weaker with its expansion, despite the progress?? Or— ] Were the worms beneath here the entire time?

[this_loser]

[Right!? Icky.]

Walls can only do so much. The barrier's been breached before. But they could've been dormant too.

[tempusfinis]

Huh. [ He makes a thoughtful noise, turning over the conduit in his hand. Having appeared so recently, he's a bit (more like, a lot) out of the loop on the events of this world, but he intends to catch up. ] So it's not without its danger.

[ Still better than all-out war. Machina appears to consider something. ] This may be completely speculative, but the worms weren't... sent by someone or something to attack this place, were they? Or was the consensus that they were wild animals?

[this_loser]

Mmmmno?

[But he does entertain the idea as he thinks back on the worm attacks. In the end, he shrugs.]

Not that I've heard. Its possible something could've spooked them our way, I guess, but they seemed wild to me.

[tempusfinis]

I see...

[ He falls silent for a few moments, attempting to allow some of his extra questions to settle. One day at a time, Machina. Not all theories are valid. ]

It's just... Being new here, I'm not sure where to start. How long have you been here?

[this_loser]

[Ah. The "how long have you been here" question, and the answer that gets longer and longer every time.]

I think we're coming up on three years. You're looking at a pro.

[tempusfinis]

[ He's in good hands. Literally.

...But it's not as comforting as it could be, considering how long that is. Someone else gave a similar answer of being here a long time. ]

You mean... you haven't been home in that amount of time.

[this_loser]

[He smile twitches, and he laughs, though it's a bit forced.]

Ahh. No. I, uh, was stuck somewhere else before I came here. Haven't actually seen home in like... [He purses his lips and counts back.] Five years.

[tempusfinis]

[ Five--

A little too quickly for his tired state to support, his head snaps up. ]

That's too long.

[this_loser]

[That gets a sudden bark of laughter out of Prompto.]

You're telling me!

[He calms, and smiles.] But...it's okay. I have family here, and friends. It helps. And someday, I'll get to go home.

[He has to believe that.]

[tempusfinis]

[ Machina watches the other's expression for a moment longer. When he replies, his gaze is leveled with his, unsatisfied but determined. ]

We're going to find a way back.

[this_loser]

[How intense! Prompto nods, all smiles dropping, though he doesn't quite match Machina's seriousness.]

We will. I know we will. It's just a matter of when, not if, right?

[tempusfinis]

That's right.

[ Perhaps in part through the contact they're sharing and the motivation from trying to return home, Machina appears better than he had been a minute ago. ]

Saving this world is all fine, but I'm sure you got people at home that want to see you, or things to do, too.

[this_loser]

["Home" is complicated. He misses it, he wants to go back, he feels an obligation to be there. But he knows the future waiting there for him is not going to be pleasant.

But...

He nods.] Sure. There's people I miss. [He thinks of Gladio. Ignis. Cindy, Iris, Aranea...] But I'm not so sure they're missing me.

If the gods here could take us from any point in time, then maybe they can send us back to that same point. In that case, how long we spend here doesn't really matter. My world is still going to be there, just how I left it.

[tempusfinis]

[ And that's... the first Machina has heard of such a theory, so it gives him some pause. It's nice, but. There's no way to really know (as far as he's aware).

So before he replies, there's a thoughtful pause. ]

You're willing to count on that hope?

[this_loser]

[No. There's no way to know. But Prompto doesn't even think about it.]

Yes. I know there's a good chance I'll go home, and it'll be five years later. That probably makes more sense. But there's also a chance that I don't go home at all. I could end up on some other world. Maybe I never go home.

[He shrugs.] If I'm going to believe in something, it might as well be the thing I want most.

[tempusfinis]

[ As he watches him, Machina's expression settles back into a frown-- although it's not directed at him. This guy speaks with some amount of conviction as if he's given this some thought before. Of course, he would have, having been away for so long. Maybe he's figured something out, making some sort of peace. But for, Machina, personally, he's not sure he'd ever be satisfied like that (or if he could be, what it would take to get there).

Also, Machina is not one to ever dismiss such hope, even if he believes one should do anything and everything necessary for it.

At last, he admits this: ]

...I hope it's what you hope, too.