♥ 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

[carbungle]

I guess, yeah. They tell me when I'm supposed to head for the next one- I was on my way to take Leviathan's trial before I ended up here.

[He glances down at his arm, watching as she continues to examine the marks. No one's ever done that before aside from him, so it's a little strange to experience it second-hand.]

And they wouldn't be trials if they were easy, right?

[iustaegis]

[ Leviathan, another Astral. Hm. She wonders what that one's energy may feel like... ]

These powers are....

[ She pauses, searching for a word to capture how they seem to her-- and not only that, that he's managed to bind them to him. A beat follows, and she decides to ask another question first. ]

Do you... feel that they are dangerous in any way? Like you are in control of them?

[carbungle]

[He shoots her an awkward little half-smile at that.]

Control an Astral? Yeah, right. They're gods, they do whatever they want.

[He shakes his head, flexing his fingers as he tries to remember the sensation.]

It's more... when a fight goes on too long, or we're doing really bad- if there's a chance we could actually die? I can feel them. It's like there's this energy pulse in my body, or a voice in my head. My eyes start burning, the air feels different. They reach out to me like, "I'm here, call on me", and if I do it, they'll come and help.

[His tone is somewhat conflicted; on one hand, it's exciting, enthralling, dangerous. On the other, he's an heir of the Lucii. He knows well that power always comes at a price.]

I don't think it's dangerous to me, though, not in the long run. Once I pass their trial, it means they've made a promise to help me and keep me alive.

1/3

[iustaegis]

[ ...Ahhh. Slowly, she's developing a better picture of his tethers to them. He impresses them by passing their test, and so they grant him their favor in time of need-- desperate need. ]

[iustaegis]

[ .....

The markings are seared into his skin; her fingers, still over the first, the Archaean. To her, it looks like the earth tethered to the moon; how gravity has fixed its face towards the ground. ]

[iustaegis]

For how long?

[ She asks, stops, and then clarifies: ]

How long does their promise to you last? [ If, as he says, they "do whatever they want". What binds them to him at all?

--Or. More troubling, is there anything that can rip these runes from his flesh? ]

[carbungle]

[And that... makes him frown, and pause, glancing downwards again.]

I don't know, no one's bothered to tell me that part. I don't really know anything about what I'm supposed to do ahead of time- when it's meant to happen, I get a sign, or a message, and... then I have to go. Been that way since I left home.

[He lifts his shoulders in a helpless shrug.]

I didn't know anything about making pacts with the Six until Titan started throwing visions in my head, and I couldn't exactly ignore that. I'm the Chosen, not the Chooser.

[A little inelegant, but not wrong. As he said, they do whatever they want. And that means they get what they want, when they want it.]

[iustaegis]

[ I'm the Chosen, not the Chooser.

It is easy to be caught up in fate and destiny,to let it consume a life and all of those that surround that life. He's been led on a path that is obscured with fog but knows it is there, with only the next step or two revealed just before he crashes blindly into them.

Is she missing something again, why him, is there something that makes him special? She had heard from Luna that he is a king, but... ]

Is there no god that can bring the light themselves, where instead they must use you? [ A pause. ] Do they drain you? These gods, when you you use their power...

[ Luna had mentioned something to that effect, too, by concidence. For her, awakening a god takes a part of her life force. ]

[carbungle]

It takes a lot out of me, I guess, but usually I just take a nap and it's fine.

[That's about as draining as it gets; he can't imagine it wouldn't be tiring, channelling the will of an ancient being through one's body. As for what makes him special...]

Here's what I know: when I was little, my dad was told I was "Chosen" from the Oracle of that time. And the Chosen has, like, a hundred titles, it's dumb, but the one that stuck with me was "The King of Light". And there's this Crystal, something my family's been guarding for thousands of years, that was given to us by the gods- it powers our magic, and its calling is to "crown the King of Light". But- what does it mean to be crowned by a Crystal? How is it going to purge the darkness? Why don't the gods do it themselves? Why was I picked for it?

[He shrugs again, shaking his head. That last one especially is baffling to him; he doesn't even have the full power of the Lucii, and probably never will. What makes him more suitable than, say, his father, the strongest person he's ever known? It's a big unhelpful question mark.]

That's the stuff I don't know. I can follow it along step by step but I've got no clue where it's going.

[iustaegis]

[ Bless him, it's nice to get answers that are wholly volunteered. She feels like she's not prying so much anymore.

He has titles, he has names, he is chosen, he bring the light. It sounds as if he is overwhelmed by it, too. Before, he had said this:

"It's not like I mind helping people.... That's what I'd choose."

His destiny aligns with his heart, in a sense, but then in response to her question about to what lengths he would go to help others, he had remained uncertain.

"Sorry, that's not really an answer. I don't think I have one. Not right now."

What more can she say. Her eyes drop once more to the runes upon his hand. She's still holding them, their energy distant but alight beneath her fingertips. Four more he must claim, and without a clue to the future. ]

Promise me one thing, though, Noctis.

[carbungle]

I... can try?

[He looks uncertainly at her. He won't make a promise if he can't keep it. At least, he tries not to do that.]

[iustaegis]

Whatever you feel within your heart now, [ Her fingers drift from the markings. ] or whatever it becomes... [ So too does the water ripple as she adjusts how she sits. She's facing him, but her eyes are upon the runes. ] It is worth acknowledging. 

[ She raises her gaze slowly-- up his arm, up his body, noting the various scars and nicks from previous battles here and there. To become the King of Light, he has sacrificed much, and this destiny he has was granted to him by the gods and that crystal. It has been thousands of years in the making.

In their previous conversation, he had acknowledged that he knew his worth, but she had never thought to ask what he thought his worth was. He talked then and he talks now about being tied to that fate, led blindly into the future-- that's not how it should be. The future's path should shine for the righteous, growing ever-brighter. ]

So promise me... [ Another ripple of the bathwater preludes more movement, the soft sound echoing within the chamber: she lifts her other hand up to join the other in holding his one. ] Promise me that you will never think of yourself as a mere tool of the gods.

[carbungle]

[A heavy promise, perhaps, and one he has to stop and think about. Does he think that? Not exactly, or at least not entirely. Having very little choice in the matter - in that he can't ignore when the voices of the gods are literally pounding his head from within, or drowning the land in endless rainfall until he caves to their demands - means he's grown far less reluctant to proceed with the trials than when he'd first begun. And if Luna's asking it of him, when she's putting so much effort into helping him, how can he say no?

A tool, though- he doesn't like that. Even if he follows every single instruction that they give him, he's still making that choice. They haven't taken over his mind and body. Like his position, before all of this happened. He was born a prince, and had no choice in the matter. One day he'd be king. That did not make him a tool of Lucis, just a man with responsibilities that have been set in stone.

His hand shifts in her grasp, fingers curling around hers to give them a grateful squeeze.]

I don't know what's gonna happen in the future, but as long as I've got a choice, that isn't in the cards. I'm still me.

1/3

[iustaegis]

[ Him bringing the light to his world-- it sounds as if there is a darkness against which the gods must employee the aide of humans to combat. They've made a sword out of him to suit their designs, or are so desperately attempting to. Yet as refined as his edge might be, as mighty as the powers he wields are, indeed he is his own person. He should never think of himself as a weapon, Chosen or not.

I'm still me.

What is within his heart-- feelings, emotions, hopes, desires, that " I don't want people to die. And I don't want to die, either"--... He should keep them. Even if all is preordained, if choice is but an illusion to those of his world, what lies within his heart is still worth having, preserving, honoring, feeling.

She cannot say for certain that the one who shares his face shares the same sentiments; she hopes that Noctis' smile will be preserved, that at the end of his journey, he will still be... himself. ]

[iustaegis]

[ Seemingly brought out of her thoughts when his fingers curl around her to squeeze them in return, she looks at him for a moment or two.

The steam of the spa rises, condenses, and the drops coolly back into the pools. The resulting splash is no more than a bell.

She opens her eyes, she smiles, and she looks upon his face to see the determination and hope still there. She's in awe that he might be able to wear such an expression despite suffering so much; it paints him in a new light.

He's brave, he's strong-- he's passed trial after trial to obtain the abilities that he has. He wants to bring the light to his world, but that's not enough, no. He wants to make sure that others live to see it, to enjoy it, to bask in its warmth, and he wishes to be there, too, because he knows his worth. He knows that he is loved by them. ]

[iustaegis]

[ She cannot help it; it feels overwhelming to be sitting beside him, suddenly, and her smile slowly widens the more her gaze lingers. It's impossible not to feel moved, seeing such hope and determination depicted so profoundly yet again in someone. Even if he is from another world, she's proud of his existence. It's been five hundred years for her, but she's glad that at least one human contains this light of the future within his heart.

Amazement sparkles in her eyes as if she were watching the sunrise itself. ]

You really are dazzling.

[carbungle]

[ah--

He blinks, eyes wide at the sudden shift in her expression, redness crawling across his cheeks. With an incoherent mumble he slides down against the side of the bath, sinking into the water deeper, deeper, until he's nearly submerged, just a floof of damp hair sticking out and a few bubbles of his breath.

nope noooope can't do that again. He's going to die of embarrassment. Too much dazzle.]

[iustaegis]

[ A floof of damp hair, a part of his face, and the hand she still holds remain above the surface. With sudden worry, her grip only tightens.

i won't let go jack ]

Eh--?

Noctis?

[ What-- ] What's wrong? [ Is it the wall-sickness again ?? She tries to tug him up. ]

[carbungle]

[He can't hear her with his ears underwater, but he only resists the tugging for a moment before he allows himself to be pulled back to the surface. Now his face is flushed because of hot water! Take that, embarrassment, he wins.]

You really have to stop saying that with a straight face.

[iustaegis]

[ Relief washes over her. What would happen if someone drowns in virtual reality? ALSO HIS FATHER IS HERE and that would be too sad--

She blinks, confused as she notes the redness of his face. The virtual reality effects of this place are astounding. "Saying that with a straight face."

Saying... ]

That you're dazzling?

[ She said it again!! ]

[carbungle]

[no!!! stop!!

He ducks his head in an unsubtle sign of defeat. Really...?]

Or at least wait for me to do something before you say it. I could just be filling your head with crazy stories, you know.

[iustaegis]

[ YOU KNOW... Saying that he's dazzling is making her think why she believed so in the first place. His strength of heart, his bravery, the want to help others, the way he called the sunrise beautiful, etc etc etc and oh gosh there's that same blush all over again.

She. Is. Moved!! And so happy someone like him exists!! Pyra is far too easily swayed by the virtues found in others.

Pyra breaks away one hand, lifting it to correct a damp strand of hair to be behind her ear. ] Mm... No. [ She replies, fondly, quietly. ]

I don't think I'm wrong on this.

[ The markings of the gods upon his hand are proof enough, even for an ordinary person to be impressed. ]

[carbungle]

[why is this his life now

He exhales a sigh and scuffs a hand through his hair, leaning back against the side of the bath again. He's meant to be relaxing in here, not floundering about and getting flustered, so rather than responding directly, he opts to deflect.]

Hey, can I ask you something? About you?

[iustaegis]

Mm, Your Majesty?

[ KING OF LIGHT. HE SAID IT, not her! And anyway, she's just throwing this out playfully. ]

[carbungle]

[...........dammit, he sure did. He opens his mouth to retort, closes it again. Thinks better of it.

Gonna just... circle back to that one in a bit.]

Can you sense this kind of stuff? Magic, I mean?