♥ June (Dianir) Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

June (Dianir) Event Log

There's a lot going on this month, plenty of work to be done. But as they say, many hands make light the work! And to make up for the grim and grey atmosphere awaiting those who decide to venture outside the barrier, the weather within the city limits is clean and clear, that perfect spot resting between hot and cold. The middle of Dianir brings to Havenwell the start of perfect summer weather. Be sure to give yourself a lovely break when you need to get away from the endless storm outside.

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❥ PROMPT I: Corridor of Lights

Compared to how the weather and world beyond the barrier was a few years ago, the wilds these days appear far less harsh. While the constant storm of dust and debris appears to maintain its viciousness further out, and it is yet strong enough to obscure whatever source of light there is beyond the atmosphere, its tumultuous gusts are noticeably less harsh closer to the city itself. And, in fact, there even appears to be patches of green just outside the barrier, although the growth rapidly stops at a certain near-distance from the city. All together, this prompts those of the researchers to make an announcement: that they are allowing– no, they are asking the off-worlders for help in Phase I of repairing the mysterious train station to the south. What do they want the non-locals to do? To make a corridor meter by meter or even inch by inch if necessary, by placing the charged up crystal-conduits of last month on poles either side of a path, stringing them together with reinforced cable.

1. As mentioned above, characters will be setting off beyond the barrier. The further characters trek as they set up the corridor, the more hazardous and darker the environment becomes. Further away from the city, even before reaching the train station ruins, light is scarce, and the world is cold, dry, and with winds as harsh as sandpaper. At some point, one's only source of light may be the flashlight attached to the exosuit front or the dim glow of the conduits themselves. Safe travels.


2. Characters will all be given exosuits to wear beyond the barrier, which are custom-fitted to their body, as well as a conduit. While researchers encourage characters to continue engaging in touch as they march into the open, it isn't necessary to participate.They will also all be given a flare to use in case of emergency.


3. Despite the improved quality of air beyond the barrier, staying out too long can still result in contracting a mysterious illness that involves chills, fever, malaise, and fatigue. The locals know of this illness as being borne from a mysterious miasma that permeates both air and ground outside. Touch alleviates the symptoms, but it takes time. If one is exposed while still beyond the barrier, characters can use their flare to signal for (player-discretion) NPC support to bring them back to the city. Tents will be set up by the locals to take in any injured or ill characters.

Once the corridor is fully finished with the conduits strung together by poles and cables, the makeshift highway will come to life by a dim, golden light reminiscent that of the barrier. Starting with the conduits nearest to the city, a shimmering, semi-translucent shield appears to dome over each section of the path until finally spanning its entire length, seemingly dispelling any miasma within. Just in case, though, the locals suggest to not remove one's exosuits just yet. This golden-lit corridor has an ethereal quality to it, muting the howling wind outside, as well as providing a sense of safety and warmth. A few local helpers can be seen standing in awe of this grand accomplishment, holding hands or linking arms as they marvel at the replicated barrier, walking down the path slowly. Some of them may even come up and thank the characters for their hard work. If they hadn't been made of metal, they are sure they would be shedding tears of joy.

❥ PROMPT II: Chaining the Supply

With the highway finally established, the researchers are calling for the initiation of Phase II, involving more sets of volunteers (they know, they know, they're needy; but don't worry, they promise they'll compensate you with dora!).

• Help with Supplies: Become a runner of supplies from point A to point B on the corridor, passing off items, cords, metal, electronics, to the next volunteer.
  
• Help with Charging the Conduits: Regrettably, the consistency of the barrier surrounding the corridor is patchy in some areas. The locals are asking for help: simply engage in any form touch with someone next to a dimmer-looking conduit. They have even provided plush couches for characters to relax upon. What do you mean, that's not comfy? No worries, they'll also provide a privacy curtain for you. Alternatively, these couches can be used as a resting station for characters in need of a break.
  
• Protect the Corridor: The light of the corridor is bound to attract a few curious and hostile wildlife to its source of light. Those who are brave enough may depart the safety of the corridor's barrier to combat or capture the creatures that would threaten its integrity. Please see below for list of potential wildlife encounters, and note that any engagement with these creatures generates a big risk of exposure to the miasma that may make a character severely ill and lethargic. Working with a partner is encouraged.
  
  For those who opt to attempt to capture some of the infected creatures, specialized nets will be provided to allow for safe catch-and-transport without making contact with the poison they exude. There will be an area designated for the captured creatures until they can be transported to one of the research labs. Some of the crystals have been moved to clear the area, and while they are held there, offworlders are encouraged to attempt a new experiment: can the crystals also purify the poison inside living creatures, as well as the air itself? If offworlders make contact within the creature's and the crystal's vicinity, can they be saved?
  
  If your character ends up capturing one of the creatures, please comment to this comment here noting which ones and how many.

These are the creatures that can be encountered on a character's path. Next to their names are the frequency with which they can be found and level of hostility. Characters can encounter either untainted or poisoned renditions of these creatures, if a regular version exists.

• "The Apparitions" (uncommon - very hostile): a creature new to those both native and offworld, these ghost-like creatures can take any form, humanoid, robotic, animal. They are translucent and mostly featureless/faceless, floating from place to place and trying to stay out of sight. They prefer to perform sneak attacks, and should they make contact with someone's bare flesh or (if you're unlucky) phase through your suit, they are able to stun most people, capturing and preventing your escape as they begin to steal your thoughts. Whatever fleeting thing might pass through your mind as you make contact with them is devoured, whatever you're feeling is consumed. This effect can be halted by another person interfering and forcing the apparition to break contact, but they can only be harmed by those who have formed a physical connection with one another. Basically: don't be caught alone by one, or there will be no escape unless someone comes to your rescue. (Apparitions cannot be captured, only slain or driven away.)
  
• Inky Black Spiders (common - hostile): These relatively small, black spider-like creatures have very basic melee attacks, using their fangs and their sharp legs to bite and claw at people. Those who were around in October when the wall broke will recognize them as the most common enemy back then. Their exoskeletons are hard and when they die, they smash into a black goo. They tend to travel in packs, using sheer numbers to overwhelm their prey.
  
• One-Eyed Lizard (uncommon - docile): An iridescent scaly purple and green lizard approximately 8 to 10cm in length from tip to tail. It has a single eye at the top of its head that can rotate to see 360 degrees around it. This creature's main defenses are its tough hide and a spine on the tip of its tail which it whips at predators to dissuade them from eating it. It's more likely to run than fight, however, and can usually be found sunbathing on exposed rock with its eye closed.
  
• "Bone Giraffe" (extremely rare - hostile): A nearly 20-foot tall, long-necked skeleton of a four-legged creature long dead with a single curved horn protruding from its skull and a sharp snout. It's usually found lying in a heap, as if it laid down and died that way. A black seven-petaled flower sometimes (but not always) grows from the skull and beneath the skeleton is an oily black film. Touching the oil slick activates the creature, which draws the oil up into the skeletal cage. Its main attacks are brute force, using its bony legs and neck to kick and slam against its prey, and its acid breath. It breathes a black fume that sizzles and burns anything it touches.
  
• Rive Talon (rare - hostile - medium): In the past these creatures may have been canines of some form, now they seem to have melded with the detritus of the fallen buildings and creatures of the landscape. Extra spikes, ridges, and protrusions extend from its body at odd angles. Many of them are metal or stone, rather than bone. And some of the bones clearly were not originally its own.
  
• Outskirts Hare (uncommon - docile): A shy creature, roughly the size and shape of an earth hare, covered in fuzzy-looking, curly pink hair and cat-like whiskers. Normally quite timid, this creature's poor eyesight causes it to flee when it feels threatened, and relies largely on a sense of touch to navigate its surroundings. Contact with this creature's fur is markedly pleasant, but its skin discharges an oil that causes mild skin irritation on contact when it's nervous. Active mostly at night time.
• Ansaurini (rare - annoying): a bipedal feathered bird with sharp claws and teeth good for chomping; some possess flight capabilities, but the majority are prone to a lazy waddle. Mostly harmless and deceptively unassuming until you turn your back- and suddenly it's run off with something it stole off your person! They are excellent at escaping, though they can be traced back to their hoard, and if their collection is raided they will make a lot of noise in protest. Just watch your back- they will try again until you leave their territory. Truly, a horrible thing.

❥ PROMPT III: Pop-Up Mouse Café

This month, the clergy of Ainea's temple are excited to announce a pop-up café for which people are free to volunteer or attend as guests. Whether a character decides to serve others or be served, the staff of the pop-up offers a headband with metallic mouse-ears on top for all to wear. They come in a variety of different hues of pinks and purples, colors that characters may recognize as being associated with Ainea. These headbands are wired to shift and turn with the moods of whoever is wearing them. The rest of the uniform, which includes formal black-and-white attire complete with frilled aprons, is optional. Featured items on the menu include teas and hot chocolates as well as a variety of (synthetic) artisan cheeses. Volunteers who decide to don the mouse-ears of the café will also be encouraged to serve snacks and drinks within the recovery tents set up for the workers who venture outside the barrier. Feeling ambitious? Those who manage to serve tea or cocoa to over five people in the recovery tents will be awarded a golden pin of a mouse they can proudly display on their uniform! Look your cutest, and get out there! You can also keep those ears.

At the end of the day, the staff will gather the group to take a photo together, local and off-worlder crew alike, to hang up on the temple wall. Supporting each other, coming together, and community through difficult times is a cornerstone of Ainea's teachings.

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This event will run from June 15th to June 30th. 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

[astralera]

I had caught a thieving bird by the throat, and his first instinct was to worry it would steal my knife and harm me.

[ A very 'Dad' first impression to make on her. ]

My notes said 'Da' or 'Daddy', but there was a preference for the latter. Particularly if you are around, though there was no elaboration.

[carbungle]

[....

Goddammit, Era.]

She's lying. Also, she's trolling me.

[astralera]

It is my preference, so it wasn't a lie.

I know what trolls are, but not 'trolling'.

[carbungle]

I have never heard you call him that. Not even once in multiple years, until now. She wrote that because she knows I'd get twitchy about it if you said it around me, that's what trolling means.

[astralera]

[ She shakes her head. ]

My preference, not hers. 'Daddy' feels more fun to say. I like it.

Around you I will use his name instead, but only if Regis isn't present.

[ Somehow she imagines it would hurt the poor man to suddenly be 'Regis' instead. ]

[carbungle]

[He levels her with a look, backing off as he's finished binding the wound at last. Thanks a lot, old Era. He's not a big fan of this one already.]

...Do whatever you want. But you're weirder than ever.

[astralera]

[ She doesn't know what to make of the way he looks at her, but she nods her thanks for his help. ]

It's not weird.

[carbungle]

[He snorts, obviously disagreeing as he starts packing up the leftover medic materials.]

Don't suppose your memory journal had anything about kinks in it.

[astralera]

[ Era shakes her head. ]

I don't see what that has to do with anything.

[carbungle]

[Filed under: conversations he never knew he didn't want to have with his (ex?) sibling.]

You know what? Sure. Call him whatever. I'm not your boss.

[If his dad is okay with her using that term as a grown-ass adult then he can pretend it's not mildly horrifying. And if his dad isn't okay with it, he can be the one to explain it to her instead. Go ahead, past-Era, embarrass Dad.]

[astralera]

Um...

[ This is all very confusing, and while she does trust her notes to not lead her astray, she also knows she would have left many things out in the name of discovery and adventure. ]

Alright.

[carbungle]

[Noctis makes a noncommittal noise, offering back the medkit and shifting to sit a bit further away and more across from her spot, now that he has no wound to mend.]

Figuring everything out okay?

[astralera]

[ That's a question she really has to think about. ]

...The majority of things, yes. My native friends have all been very understanding and helpful.

[carbungle]

Oh, you went and saw them, huh.

[He manages to bite his tongue hard enough to avoid adding, "And not one of us." He has no idea who else she might have visited, and considering the current awkwardness, he doesn't know how much help he'd have been, comparatively. …Whatever, not his business.]

That's good, I guess. That- it's helpful. They kinda thrive on being helpful.

[astralera]

[ She nods. ]

They understand what it's like to forget.

[ She thinks of another piece of advice she had left herself. One regarding being less closed-off with her thoughts and feelings. ]

...It's been nice having a place to go where it's just understanding, and no hurt.

[carbungle]

[Noct's response is a heavy silence. What's he supposed to say to that? "Sorry we're sad you sacrificed all your memories of us and got nothing out of it"? "Sorry we can't pretend we're not affected by this"? He seriously doubts she'd expect them to, but it's not like he has much of a better response. It'd be way more convenient if they'd all forgotten her, too, and it was a net zero across the board, but he'd never volunteer that. His memories are too precious to him. Instead it leaves them with this awkwardness, and he's awful with dealing with that.

He looks away, as if something around them is somehow going to help him, but all they've got is Argos and those damn flowers and that's not doing him much good. He shuffles his feet and sighs.]

I can head back on my own, if that's easier.

[astralera]

[ Era doesn't know how that would make anything easier. She glances to Argos for his input, but he offers none (which shouldn't come as a surprise). He does offer her support as she goes to put the first aid kit back where she found it, and continues sticking by her side as she makes her way over to the Elpis flowers. ]

Easier how?

[ A wave of anxious grey overtakes the neutral white of their petals, but Era pays it no mind. She pulls out her knife, cuts one flower at the base of its stem, and casts a quick preservation spell on it.

Era meanders back to Noctis, holding out the flower for him to take. ]

Think of how your partner makes you feel, then give this to her.

[carbungle]

[He makes a noise but doesn't answer; it should be obvious, considering what she just said. But she's already moving anyway, and when she offers out the flower to him, he blinks first at it, then at her. His own mood doesn't help the petal shades much.]

Uh... what do the colours mean?

[astralera]

Yellow is joy, white is contentment, purple is sorrow, black is hopelessness, and iridescence is hope.

[ She waits patiently for him to take the flower. ]

I am less certain of the others, but believe blue is acceptance, and orange is gratitude.

[carbungle]

...Is there a colour for disgusting amount of sap?

[AKA the sort of love that sickens people around them. He does take the flower, though, examining it curiously.]

[astralera]

[ While she doesn't know what emotion 'sap' is, she is fairly positive about one thing— ]

...All emotions will have a colour.

[ Though she suspects the variance between some will be quite subtle. ]

[carbungle]

[He'd meant it mostly as a joke, but... okay, one more thing to get used to. That sort of stuff doesn't fly anymore. He tries not to look deflated about it, spinning the flower's stem between his fingers.]

Okay... thanks.

[Hopefully it's safe to be in the armory, because that's where it's going for now.]

[astralera]

[ She nods an acknowledgment of his thanks, and watches curiously as he puts the flower away. ]

That is part of your... warp-y thing?

[carbungle]

"Warp-y thing"...

[He quirks a brow, fighting back a smirk.]

You can just call it magic, you know.

[astralera]

So it is part of your warp-y magic?