♥ November Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

November (Malom) Event Log
The chaos of Lasohm's invasion is still fresh in the mind, but it's over. The ugly scar of the hole in Havenwell's wall is a jarring reminder that this world is dying and nothing goes quietly into that dark night. The phantom is gone as Malom overtakes Lasohm, the weather turning colder and chillier with each passing day. Still, the city of Havenwell has all of you offworlders to thank for its survival, and the fearful citizens make sure you know just how much they appreciate you by stopping you on the street to say their thanks. Your new home still needs your help to recover from their ordeal though, so will you lend them your strength once more?

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❥ PROMPT I: Rebuilding Effort

The magic barrier over the hole that unknown monster punched through Havenwell's wall is repaired, stopping the onslaught and encouraging any other nightmares that lurk outside to move on and away, but the hole itself remains. Throughout the month of Malom, robot natives are working tirelessly to gather bricks and stone and patch the breach, but they could use some help. Work together with other offworlders and natives alike to repair the wall and be rewarded with a handsome bump to the Dora in your bank account. They need all sorts of help, from clearing away the dead bodies of the spider-like creatures for cremation, to retrieving and hauling stone for the wall, to actually slotting the heavy blocks into place to cement them back together.

Outside the barrier, now clearly visible through the hole, a storm rages on, obscuring the view of the world beyond it. Gray and black clouds whip against the invisible barrier, and occasional debris slams into it, causing the impact site to light up with silver, pink, blue, or white hues before it fades away again. It seems even without monsters, the world outside is as inhospitable as was rumored.

Work together or take a break along the base of the wall and get to know your fellow offworlders a little better. It's going to take a while before this mess is cleaned up.

❥ PROMPT II: Air Sickness

Those who worked at or were near the breach in the wall for any extended period of time will notice that, over time, it gets harder to breathe. Then they begin to feel feverish, even if they don't have flesh bodies or are immune to disease. Their bodies ache and groan and it gets harder to move about without help. Once the natives notice, they set up a recovery area away from where the breach occurred: a giant tent with cots and pillows, thick rugs and blankets to keep the chill away. Unfortunately, they don't have medicines available to treat flesh bodied people, so they're at a loss of what to do otherwise. The priests gather anyone who is ill and brings them here...which is when a curious thing occurs.

While conventional medicines and healing spells seem to have no effect on the illness, staying in contact with another person alleviates the symptoms. After a period of contact with another person or persons, the fever breaks and it's like you were never sick at all.

Return to the wall, however, and you'll notice your symptoms coming back with a vengeance after a few days. It seems that making regular trips between the wall and this recovery tent is the only way to keep working. At least it's an easy fix so long as you're not a germaphobe.

❥ PROMPT III: A Tasty(?) Reward

Toward the end of the month as the hole in the wall is completely repaired and the risk of illness declines, a message is sent to all the offworlders' communication devices. Those who choose to open it will find a very official looking message from The Havenwell Council that reads:

Greetings, Saviours of Havenwell!
We of the Havenwell Council greet you and wish to express our eternal gratitude for your valiant efforts to keep our wonderful home safe. Without you, we would not have survived this terrible onslaught. As such, we wish to express our gratitude in a more concrete form. Your emissary, Magolor, has been in contact with this venerable Council and has brought to our attention that your greatest concern is for the food available. We apologize that due to our inability to taste we have been unable to supply you with satisfactory meals.

To that end, we invite you to work with our scientists to improve upon the taste of currently available offerings from our replicators. Please come to the Northern Research Tower (map included) at any time this month to sample what our replicators can produce and give us feedback on their flavour and textures. We ask that you be as specific as possible in your criticisms so we may improve upon your general quality of life. Please feel free to bring as many friends as you wish.

May the Gods Protect You,
Havenwell Council, Community Liaisons

Those who take the invitation will arrive at the Northern Research Tower and be taken directly to the 40th floor, where a large banquet hall has been laid out. Five rectangular tables, over 5 meters long each, stretch down the room, creating aisles for people to walk down. At the far end are several high round tables, covered in white cloth, and high round stools for those who wish them. The tables are overflowing with food, much like the welcome dinner, but at each table and scattered throughout the room are scientist robots with arm bands that read "Experiment 73" in that peculiar Aellyn script you saw during your time at the Archives. They invite you to taste the foods - both raw and cooked - and to give your very honest opinions.

Enjoy the food, help them improve the flavours, and walk the room to talk with the others who have come. Those who participate will receive a small synthetic fruit basket to take home with them on their first visit. Feel free to come back as often as you like, however! Each time, they'll be changing and adjusting the food available so your first and last visit may be very different. Perhaps that strawberry actually even tastes sweet, finally.

❥ PROMPT IV: A Virtual Spa

The VR cafes are uncharacteristically quiet while the rebuilding effort goes on, but there are still those who come to plug in to unwind after a day of intensive labor. And what better way to unwind than with a hot bath, right? Since the people of Havenwell can't actually submerge themselves in water, they're doing the next best thing: going to a virtual hot spring. There are several types to choose from and despite being digital, their calming and soothing effects on the body seem very real. Choose from:

• The Classic Outdoors: a rock lined hot spring with natural rock floors and steamy mineral infused waters nestled in the mountains. All around you is beautiful greenery like a sweeping pine and low fragrant bushes. The serene air and the calm forest is only occasionally broken by the sound of a wooden pipe thudding hollowly against a rock at a steady interval or the sound of birdsong off in the trees. The relaxing atmosphere is enough to set even the tightest wound nerves at ease.
  
  
• The Marbled Columns: white and painted marble columns lead to a series of different shaped baths with statues of the gods pouring water into them. Each bath has a different healing property, which is clearly marked with a plaque at the rim of each: good for your circulation, your bones, your aches and pains, even acne and metabolic rate. The columns support a beautiful open ceiling that shows the perfectly blue sky overhead dotted with the occasional cloud.
  
  
• The Steamy Sauna: though seemingly austere in their white tile and deep blue bath basins, the air here is thick and steamy and the baths are deep with hand-rails leading down steps to help you enter. All around the basins are stone or wooden benches with towels laid down for those who wish to simply sit and let the warm air open their lungs. If you get too hot? Grab a bucketful of cold water from one of the freestanding tubs and douse yourself to get a shock and cool off.
  
  
• The Milk-and-Honey: a beautifully tiled bath with a large shallow rectangular basin. The surrounding walls and ceilings have blue, white, and gold geometric designs laid out with loving care in pleasant designs that ease the mind. The bath water here is filled with a concoction of milk and honey to soothe and smooth the skin, filling the air with a pleasing sweet scent. The effects of these baths on a person's skin is said to make them glow from the inside out for at least a day after bathing.
  
  
• The Theme Park: the first thing to greet you is the comically oversized bottle of red wine tipped to pour a continuous stream of red liquid into the large crystalline bath basin. The smell of wine is heavy but pleasant in the air and the crystalline basin is round and shaped like a wine glass. Climb up the glass steps and give yourself a good old soak in the red water. You might even find that taking a dip here gives you a heady happiness that lasts all day. And if it feels like you're a little drunk while there? That has to be your imagination! ...Maybe.

Hot springs are great to experience with friends to deepen that feeling of skinship you have with each other, and several Havenwell natives are doing just that. But what about those who don't have a friend to log in with? Don't worry! The game will randomly select another player from this or another facility and match you together. Isn't that nice? We're sure it is! Who doesn't want to talk to someone else while naked, right?

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This event will run from November 14th to the 31st. 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 here.

Comments

[meridio]

[ She rolls her shoulders back while he leans forward as much as the level of the water allows. Pyra must appear rather peculiar from afar, but up this close the gentle glow of her crystal is only just within his line of sight as he focuses on the surface of the water. The light is as such unobtrusive to his senses, whose attention for which the spring itself gently demands.

Living near a water source had afforded numerous advantages in his time, the Scourge notwithstanding. There had been large baths for the weary. The experience of a soothing bath is not strictly new to him—just uncommon now, his being what he is. ]

Not since I walked the mortal realm.

[iustaegis]

[ ...For which it has been a few millennia for him.

It's difficult not to look his way; he's fascinating. A man dead, brought back to life in this realm. Why was his soul being held before whatever afterlife exists in his world? ]

Did you miss it at all? The, um, "mortal realm", when you were... [ A beat. ] Wherever you were, before.

[meridio]

[ Somnus' expression goes unchanged as he watches the steam rise. Truthfully, he does not miss being alive and all that it entails. ]

Our realm was built upon the ashes of the life that came before it. The past must remain in the past.

[iustaegis]

[ A glance.

Ashes of the life that came before-- isn't it always just? The ashes of humans who had preceded him, and even further before that. The ashes of fallen stars, dust flaring upon solar winds that came together to form anew.

He's trying to dismiss-- ]

You have not lost your memories from before you passed, though.

[meridio]

[ And what of them? His memories only further solidify his belief that he should press onward. There's little point in looking back—in voicing that yearning for what once was. ]

I have no desire to walk the realm again.

[iustaegis]

[ If he has no desire to do this, then maybe there he has a desire to for something else? She's not sure.

Or maybe he wishes for something else entirely. ]

And what about reminiscing?

[meridio]

[ Painful and unnecessary.

Though his body may be at ease, his mind is troubled still. Since his arrival, his heart has been pulled further and further back into the past. If he allows this to persist, he'll lose sight of the future. ]

Why have you come here?

[iustaegis]

[ At that, she turns to look at him, giving him a squeeze of his hand. ]

When you are alone, do your thoughts wander?

[meridio]

[ This time, their eyes lock. ]

I think of the future . . . and what must be done for it.

[iustaegis]

[ She holds his gaze. For the future, he says. For the bright future, that others might have it. It is the exact opposite of reminiscing; it is looking forward, and he meets her gaze while saying this. On this, he remains unwavering. ] 

Ah. [ She replies quietly, tone soft as the light in her eyes. ]

You still feel hope. 

[ As if it could ever perish, even with death. ]

[meridio]

[ With her, it's ever about what and how he feels. She isn't wrong. The prophecy keeps hope alive in not just the people's hearts, but in his as he awaits the end.

He's answered her question, whereas she's yet to answer his. Straightening, he waits, too, for this. ]

[iustaegis]

[ She answered his question!! With a question! She doesn’t wish to be alone with her thoughts....

Hope.

He straightens, watching her, and her gaze lowers to her hand in his, obscured by the density of the water in which they soak. She lifts their joined hands above the surface of the water, bringing up her other to feel over his knuckles, his fingers, the surface of his skin...

Flesh and blood. (Well, almost.) ]

I’m... grateful that you’re here with me.

[meridio]

[ Answering a question with a question is not mannered!!

The water breaks at the surface with the emergence of their hands. It's cooler on the surface, if by a marginal difference. The air is thick and somewhat weighed by the foggy warmth, and Somnus exhales softly though parted lips to vent some of that heat. He watches her face while she runs her hand over the back of his.

Though these may not be their actual bodies, their real bodies are side by side outside of this fabricated reality. He is, indisputably, here with her. ]

Little in the worlds can be achieved alone. There will always be someone.

[iustaegis]

[ She is surprised to hear this coming from him. While he gives off a sense of wisdom and duty, the words strike her as thoughtful... as well as humble, for he acknowledges that little can be achieved alone.

Here, especially. She turns over his hand, but her eyes look upon him. ]

You speak from experience?

[meridio]

[ The turn puts her hand on top and Somnus lowers his gaze to it, catching the dim glow of the crystal in his periphery. His fingers curl in further around the back of Pyra's hand.

He has always relied on others—people and things—and he has been called a coward for it. This is true. He has always been a coward. But nothing will be accomplished if he relies only on himself, flawed as he is (as all mortals are). ]

Even here, the offering of contact requires at least two.

[iustaegis]

[ ...Right, he focuses not on the past. An apology escapes her: ] Ah, I’m... sorry.

[ No reminiscing; this is supposed to be relaxing not just for her, but for him too.

As she feels his fingers curl more into her hand, she recalls what she had once said to him the first day they met. She can’t hold her own hand, can she? Her smile turns fond, realizing that he’s remembered this. ]

It’s just... a nice thing to hear you say, that little can be achieved alone. [ There will always be someone, indeed. ] Humble and... insightful. You are strong, but you are stronger with others. With family, friends, loved ones...

[meridio]

[ Anyone. So long as there’s somebody, one is better off for it. Where strength is concerned, though, Pyra must already be enough on her own. Perhaps it’s only so insightful and attractive to her ears, because she has none of those things—because she cannot be counted among the mortals she loves so.

Straightening again, he closes his eyes as his body basks in the warm bath. (His mind, in contrast, continues to race with thoughts:‌ no world can be saved by one person. All must make a sacrifice; sometimes, that sacrifice is a loved one or a friend. No matter how great the cost, they must push onward together.) The tension in his muscles loosens in her grasp, weighing their hands back down into the water should she allow it.

Perhaps she has yet to realize how distant she sounds when she inquires and speaks the way she does. But he knows she saw how he looked at her when they first manifested in this virtual reality. ]

Feign if you must, but know that I‌ shall not question your being.

1/2

[iustaegis]

[ Their joined hands... do not sink into the water, not yet. She supports his for a moment or few longer, eyes looking to just the underside of his forearm: nothing. Then back to his palm: callouses. The gods who gave him a body here have sought to recreate him as he had been in life, including all the markings of strife...

His comment, a diversion, does it job to distract her.He knows she is not human. But with how easily he looked away, she... supposes that maybe she worries for nothing. There are many non-humans here.

(She she can never be too sure. Remaining cautious is the wise choice.) ]

[iustaegis]

[ She sighs. Am I that terrible an actress? she wishes to ask. How inhuman does she seem, she wonders, aside from the crystal that sits upon her chest? ]

...It's okay. [ She did say that they have to try being vulnerable, to better facilitate touch! Only, this is more difficult than she thought it'd be. In the end, she can do nothing but thank him for not inquiring further. ] Thank you, still. [ Her eyes sweep up from his hand to his face. He does not look at her, but she only sees him. ]

No one would question if you are not human.... [ But if she is to let some vulnerability slip through: ] I'm envious.

[meridio]

[ His brow creases with a light pinch, so faint that it's only visible with her watching his face. Twice has he heard her voice utter that word now. She has nothing for which to thank him, and certainly nothing of which to envy.

He was human, once. He is still human, in some part. But he is also one of the Lucii, and more besides. ]

There is naught to envy of the dead . . . nor is appearance the mark of humanity.

[iustaegis]

[ Nor is appearance the mark of humanity....

She recalls someone else’s words to her when she first arrived, that their physical form does not matter, they are still themselves no matter what form they take. Even if they are dead or alive.

Doesn't matter- it's still me. It's always been me. That is what that woman had said.

With that in mind, Pyra is— ...there is no “Pyra”, or Mythra for that matter. She is still but an inhuman entity, a crystal; the form she takes now is a facade, a construct, a lie; the names she takes just as much.... What she has always been, is that crystal and nothing more. ]

Humanity... [ She murmurs, repeats, as if he’s spoken something profound. Then she straightens some, as if drawn to that profoundness. ]

You still have it. No matter what form you take.

[meridio]

[ Somnus opens his eyes to the same steam rising from the same water. On the other hand, she, who was constructed to be something else entirely, has no humanity to claim for all of her imitations. It's all too easy to envy what one cannot have.

Of this, he has no doubt: Pyra loves all of creation, including humanity. But he wonders from where that envy stems. ]

And you have what is yours.

[iustaegis]

[ She takes this as that he's trying to say that she has humanity. That's sweet of him. That's cute. He's wrong, of course. Besides what had been imprinted onto her, she has none.

She smiles faintly, and then... ]

May I ask you a question?

[meridio]

[ No answer. Instead, she seeks permission. He tilts his head in the opposite direction of her—a faintly inquisitive gesture that invites her to ask. ]

[iustaegis]

[ It's a simple question, relating to their talk about forms and such. But it is a personal one, and one that has been on her mind. ]

The form you have now, this one that the gods here gave you... is it the same as it was when you were alive?