♥ 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

[this_loser]

[That ... feels really good. He hums, eyes drifting shut.]

Pretty close. I was running supplies to the people doing the rebuilding.

[original_is_best]

Hmm.

[With the soft hum he took the hand away to write again. Meticulous, detached, but dedicated to doing his job.]

You have not been conscious long, but has anything alleviated the symptoms? Moving into a certain position, for example?

[this_loser]

I dunno.

[The loss of contact has his eyes blinking open. Ugh. Embarrassing.]

Felt a little better sitting up.

[original_is_best]

[He took a moment more to finish the notes before placing them on the table and replacing his glove. Neither rushed nor purposely being slow, he simply carried about his business calmly before leaning back over in order to dig his arm underneath Prompto's shoulders and lift him back up. He knew well enough already how shaky the boy was, so simply telling him to do it himself wouldn't have sufficed.

Rather than ask a question this time, though, he waited and observed, letting Prompto use him for support and balance.]

[this_loser]

[He was slow enough that Prompto was already starting to drift off when he suddenly had an arm under him and pushing him upward.]

Uh! Little warning next time?

[Though, after a little time passed, he did start to feel better. He flexed his fingers and found they weren't as stiff and achy as before.]

[original_is_best]

I thought it would be obvious.

[If sitting up helped, then he would sit him up.]

And your symptoms now?

[this_loser]

It wasn't.

[He gives his fingers another flex, and extends on arm experimentally.]

Better. Doesn't hurt as much.

[original_is_best]

Perhaps the bloodflow is improved.

[For all they'd been through, Verstael still thought in terms that made sense on his world. He pulled a pillow over to shove it behind him for lower back support - he didn't particularly want to hold him forever. His release, at least, wasn't immediate, pulling himself away in a slow and steady motion to see how well Prompto held himself up.]

A chair or couch might be more suitable for recovery.

[this_loser]

[He makes a hum of acknowledgement. When Verstael moves away, he sways a little, but it's less alarming than the first time, and he corrects himself to leans back against the pillow.]

I was gonna go home soon as I'm feeling able. Got a couch there.

[He already had a blanket pile on the couch. It was just a matter of getting to it.

Unfortunately, sitting up doesn't seem to be helping all that much. The pain seems to be staying away from his hands, at least, but everything else still aches. He groans and starts trying to scoot back down.]

Maybe not.

[original_is_best]

[He glanced over curiously.]

Nausea?

[Moving around could do that. He pushed himself up, grabbing a small cloth to wet and ringing it out until it was damp.]

Then lie back.

[He brushed a gloved hand over Prompto's forehead to move the bangs out of the way as he placed the cool cloth on his forehead.]

[this_loser]

Kinda. Just hurts.

[He tries to get comfortable again, startling a bit when a hand sweeps his hair out of the way. But the cool cloth feels good.]

You sure there aren't any pain killers?

[original_is_best]

There are some. We've very little variety in what is available currently, though.

[And also, he had to pay for them. While he kept some supplies on hand for emergencies, he preferred to hold out unless it was necessary.

It would be better to see how well these worked on a grown man rather than a child, though.]

Seeing as the natives made these, they may be 'off' just as the food is.

[Still, he pulled out his own personal kit where some basic first aid supplies were packed in it and placed a single pill down on the table next to the currently mostly empty glass.]

You should sit up if you wish to swallow something.

[There. He got a warning that time before Verstael gripped his shoulder and pushed him up.]

[this_loser]

As long as it does its job, I don't care.

[All this up and down was going to make him sick. Sicker.

Once up, he gropes for the pill and water, determined to do at this on his own. It takes a couple tries to get the pill down.]

[original_is_best]

[He continued propping him up, hand just below Prompto's shoulder. Better to let things settle for a moment first.]

You said you have a place to lie down at home.

Perhaps one of your friends can take you there in a while.

[this_loser]

Mm. Maybe.

[He's already starting to feel better. That's some pill.]

It'd be silly to bother them with this though.

[original_is_best]

[If only they were making the connection to the ludicrous. Much as he'd spent time here, Verstael still thought about things logically.]

I suppose there's no harm in resting here.

[His hold on Prompto loosened, before he pushed on his own knee to stand up and slip away, heading for the entrance of the tent.]

Rin!

[He called out firmly once, not seeming to think he needed to follow it up since he immediately set to putting the pills back away.]

[morality_pet]

[ There's a patter of small feet, and a young girl pops her head around the door ]

Lord Verstael called Rin?

[this_loser]

[Prompto almost immediately flops back down and fumbles to get the cool cloth back over his forehead. It's a little haphazard, but whatever. He peeks an eye open at the little voice at the entrance.]

[original_is_best]

Bring a small bowl of soup.

[In the time people had been recovering out here, some had been prepared with what ingredients they could get their hands on. Perhaps still not perfected, but good enough.]

He is quite unstable, you may need to assist him with eating it.

[For now, he collected his things and sat back in the chair, getting back to his notes. He needed to put together potential theories on the underlying cause - something from the outside seeping in, almost certainly. But without knowing the exact composition of the outer atmosphere, it was hard to pinpoint what exactly might be in the air.

Though he was nearby if she needed assistance, he allowed the young girl space to do her 'job'.]

[morality_pet]

Okay!

[ She chirps and waves a shy hello to the new person before ducking out. She's not gone long before she returns, carefully balancing a tray with soup and a spoon on it ]

Hello. [ She says shyly ]

Do you need Rin to help you eat?

[this_loser]

[Oh, gods. He's going to have to sit up again. At least he manages to leverage himself up this time, moving the cloth so it's perched on the top of his head.]

Uh, hey.

[He wants to ask why a cute little girl has anything to do with a mad scientist. WTF.]

I...I think I can handle it, thanks.

[original_is_best]

[Everyone needs to work on their abs sometimes.]

Rin was afflicted with the illness earlier, too. As you can she, she has recovered quite well.

[Which meant something had worked. He compared some notes. Of course, there was simply the fact that they had been removed from the cause to begin with. Prompto, however, did not seem to be recovering at quickly as Rin had.]

[morality_pet]

Rin is lots better.

[ She agrees, and sets the tray down next to Prompto, carefully pouring him a glass, and then scrambles up onto the bed to sit on the edge ]

Rin hasn't seen you before, Rin thinks. Hello!

[this_loser]

Kids bounce back faster.

[Right? That was a thing? He's heard that before.

He picks up the soup to start eating, giving Rin a smile.]

I'm glad you're feeling better, Rin. It's a big city. I'm sure we just missed each other. I'm Prompto.

[original_is_best]

Perhaps.

[It didn't sound at all like he thought it was just because Rin was a kid, though.]

I have replicated some of the methods that worked for Rin. However, she seemed to recover much more quickly. Another reason why it's important to take good notes.

Rin, do you know how to feel someone's forehead for fever?