hugtopia_logs | ♥ November Event Log

♥ November Event Log

a gloved hand places a brick in place on a wall

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?

❥ PROMPT I: Rebuilding Effort

a stone wall with a large collapsed hole in the center

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

a collage of different foods on display: salads, meats, and pasta

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

a spa/water park with large open pools, an enclosed building, a bridge, and a water slide in the background

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?

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"... Got it."

Gentle coaxing is only going to get him so far, it seems, and for as worried as he might be, surely she's way more frightened. Best not to leave her like this for too long, and with that in mind, he moves in to decisively scoop her up into his arms.

"Hold on to me if you wanna, but I'm not gonna drop you, okay?"

Upsie daisies, she was even easier to scoop up than usual. She tried to gasp reflexively in surprise, but the sound caught somewhere in her chest and came out a weird, pitiful little sound instead. There was a brief moment where he could actually see her face for how pale and flushed it was, but she was quickly burying it miserably against his chest.

She believed him (whomever this was, she actually wasn't sure) when he said he wouldn't drop her, but she wasn't certain that she wasn't going to just melt out of his arms or something. With that in mind, she held on as tightly as she could manage.

"I'm sorry."

Up we go, nice and slowly.

"It's 'cause you were working super hard, right?" Man, hearing that extra small sounding apology, you really trying to break his heart on top of all of that worry? He knows that kids often need a more delicate touch, especially those who don't make a point of making their voices heard. Vianca, small and quiet as she was, definitely earned herself a little extra consideration. "You don't have to apologize for that."

There's a nice, big tent set up not too far from here, let's make a brisk retreat in that direction, shall we?

Well. If you say so, Tamaki. There was a lot more she could be doing besides dying, probably! Like more work! So no one else would have to die! Probably! Had that truly been too much to ask.

Unable to come up with a better response, Vianca just shivered in his arms. She couldn't exactly stop him from taking her anywhere, couldn't work up the want to even do so, so there was just the implicit trust that'd she get... somewhere.

Nobody's dying today! Probably! But definitely not Vianca, at any rate!

With no further argument to be posed, it's a quick and quiet enough journey to the rest tent, the inside of which provides a nice shelter from any wayward wind. There's at least that much that should help fend off some of those chills right away...!

"Alright," and one empty cot later, they have arrived at the promised Somewhere. "I'm gonna set you down here, okay?"

So, you know, don't be too surprised if you feel yourself headed downwards, Vianca.

Probably not Vianca. The trek might not have been too long, but the close and cozy contact was already doing some of its magic. Gradually, drawing in breaths became a little bit smoother, a tiny bit easier. The dizziness and the chills were still there, but they were easier to bear when she could breathe.

Not that this was changing the way Vianca clung to this solid person as they went. Her grip only tightened as suddenly things were going d o w n, and it only persisted when she actually did make contact with the cot.

Oh. Well.

That, uh, kind of makes it a little difficult to actually set her down and get her under those blankets, doesn't it? He won't quite let go as long as she's holding on, but maybe he'll give that coaxing bit another shot.

"I won't go anywhere if you don't want me to, but it's okay to relax now."

Ah. Hm. Wrapped up in all that haze and ache, Vianca dimly realized that she was probably causing someone a problem. That was enough for her to curl her fingers in a bit more as she tried to focus her thoughts, giving a small nod. Then her grip eased, falling away so she could be easily deposited.

"It's... okay. I'm sorry."

"You're fine, I'm not mad or anything."

On to the bed with you, kiddo. With one hand, he grabs the blanket that's on the cot to get Vianca covered up, while the other one seeks out one of her's. He said he wouldn't go anywhere, and she didn't exactly give him the impression that she wanted him to leave, so... here's a little reassurance that he'd stick around.

"You can rest up here."

Her fingers curled around his, grateful to have something to hold on to again. It was a lot easier to listen to that gnawing loneliness when she was too much of everything else to ignore it. The warmth of his hand was the one nice thing she could reach, so she was going to hold on to that.

... The blanket was nice too, and the instinct to try and burrow in it was strong. Bye.

It was very muffled due to all the aforementioned burrowing, but there was a tiny 'thank you' floating up from the pile.

Oh, there she goes...! Taking that hand of his with her!

That's fine, though, he'll let her keep that hold on him, and answer that muffled gratitude with a small squeeze. Hopefully with a little rest, maybe a little sleep...? she'll start to feel a little better.

"Mhmm." He wouldn't feel right leaving her on her own either way, so it's nice that she's receptive enough to his company. "I'll be right here if you need anything."

The blankets shifted a little just in one spot, and there was a small squeeze of her hand. She'd heard that, thank you.

Now that she was all bundled up and tucked away from everything else, it wasn't going to take her long to stop fighting all the fatigue. Soon, her grip mellowed and a slow, wheezy pattern of squeaks made its way from the covers.

S...nores? Maybe snores.

Rhythmic little wheezy squeaks? S...nores. Sores! Okay, that's a good sign! Rest and sleep should solve some of this problem.

Sure enough, he doesn't let go while she rests, opting instead to pull the next nearest cot close enough to take a seat on. There, now he can stay nearby if he's needed, and keep an eye on her just in case something else happens. But, after that...? He'll just have to wait, right? He rests his chin on his free hand, propping that elbow up on one knee, and settles in for the wait for her to recover.

Bless you, Tamaki, for this self-less act. Submitting yourself to boredom was no simple feat.

Because this was really boring.

But if he could endure...! Eventually, eventually, he'd be rewarded with a small rustle of blankets. A moment more, and a pair of big blue eyes were peeking out from them at him. Hello.

Boredom is a little easier to stave off when you're super duper worried actually, but that just translates into a very restless sort of feeling. Like maybe he could be doing? Something? To help out? But he also said he'd stay here, so here he stays. Idly drumming his fingers across his chin. Bouncing his leg a little bit. Trying to keep himself as occupied as he could while also sitting around in an environment that's pretty much designed to make him anxious.

But! He gave his word! And his patience ("patience?") is rewarded by that bundle under the blankets finally stirring.

"Hm?" Oh? "Hey!"

He even puts on a smile when she peeks out! One that probably betrays his nerves a little, but he genuinely is glad to see her up and peering out of her burrow.

"How're you feeling...?"

There's an adjustment period happening here as she blinked at him. She hadn't actually expected anyone to be there, but she'd woken up with someone holding her hand so that had been. A little confusing, and a little bit flustering because oh no. There was enough clarity to wonder if she'd inconvenienced somebody enough that they felt like they had to stay...!

"Hello" she greeted him a little shyly, giving his hand a little squeeze. "I... think I am okay."

"Yeah?"

He sounds a little hopeful, because goodness that would definitely be a relief. He does kind of want to make sure, though, so he reaches his free hand over to check her forehead, to see if she might still be running hot.

"You were in pretty rough shape earlier."

There was still plenty of heat simmering under Tamaki's hand, but it could have easily been chalked up to that cocoon of blanket she'd been wrapped up in. It wasn't completely burning up at least!

That was progress!

Vianca gave a small nod. "It... seems that way. You were the one that brought me here?"

With how poorly she had started this particular adventure, it wouldn't be too surprising to figure that a nice and solid nap would only do so much to help. Better is good! But it's not shocking to think that she's not in tip-top shape just yet.

"You really couldn't tell?" No offence taken, naturally, it's just that much more indicative of how out of it she must have been. Huh... Concerning. "Yeah, that was me."

"... oh."

That was the sound of embarrassment. Sure, he didn't seem to mind, but not being able to pinpoint who had helped her was! Not good! What if he hadn't stayed? What if something else had happened? She really had been a big bother. Vianca shrunk a little bit into the blankets as she nodded, silently admitting to this troublesome fact.

"... Thank you. I am sorry for the inconvenience."

What? What?? There's no need for apologies!!

"Huh? Oh, no, it's okay. I guess it really just means I'm glad I got to you when I did?" He gives her hand an extra little squeeze, for reassurance. You don't have to hide like that. "It would have been bad if you were even worse than that, you know...? It wasn't an inconvenience at all."

She stayed right where she was, because she wasn't entirely convinced, but she did squeeze back. Thank you.

"That's kind of you. Um..." Vianca trailed off a little, looking at their hands. How long had she been sleeping? It possibly didn't matter, any amount would have been longer than she wanted to keep him. This was very nice and very kind and felt a bit like a waste of his time.

"... I think I will be okay, if there was somewhere you were going."

"Hey, don't worry about that. I was just doing stuff around the wall, and they've still got a bunch of people out there helping."

Probably doing more meaningful work than he was, too. He's not too broken up inside about sticking around to help out one of the other offworlders instead.

"Is there anything you need? Water, or... maybe some more blankets?"

Water.

Just the word was enough to make Vianca realize that oh. Oh yes. She was horrendously parched. No wonder everything felt a little bad, even if she was feeling kind of okay.

"...Water, please. I think I need some water."

Water it is, then!

"Got it."

He offers her hand another little squeeze before slipping out of her grasp.

"I'll be back in a flash."

♥ November Event Log

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