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.

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[ Conversation has never been Era's area of expertise, but she has always enjoyed listening and observing; the companionship found in company, despite few seeking to really hear what she might have to say. It leaves her in somewhat of a bind, where she seeks conversation but lacks the innate desire or experience to prompt it herself in many cases, like now. ]

The tea should... not take long.

[ She hopes, at least. If need be she can attempt to steep it herself, though any steps beyond the initial combination of hot water to leaf are ones at which Era has yet to succeed. ]

[Fortunately, if she's been listening closely, there are already sounds of prep from the kitchen, the faint clatter of cups on saucers.

Seeing as he hasn't been banished from meeting her company this time, Emet-Selch appears from the kitchen almost immediately following the steam-whistle, with a full tea tray in his arms. He pauses only long enough to quirk his eyebrows at Somnus before setting the tray on the coffee table.

His words are directed at Era.]

Perhaps a bit more warning next time, my dear?

[It's fairly clearly a bit of teasing more than an actual complaint.]

[ A smile tugs at her lips even as her cheeks flush faintly pink. She has begun to make quite the habit out of this, hasn't she? ]

What fun would there be in that?

[The faint clutter from the kitchen alerts him to another presence. Emet-Selch emerges, and Somnus lifts his head to regard him with no change in expression. A third was unexpected, but that it should be Emet-Selch isn't as surprising.

He turns his head, quietly following the conversation with a look at Era before he turns back to the tea tray.]

[A faintly exasperated eyeroll.]

As a bringer of chaos, I may have no room to complain, but I shall do so anyway.

[This is exactly what they are like, at all times, forever. Those gold eyes drift over to Somnus instead.]

Milk or sugar?

I hear no complaint, o bringer of chaos.

[ She picks up her tea and takes a sip without hesitation, assured that it will be precisely to her taste, temperature and all (even if tea is not something she has any particular taste for). It is delightfully warm and creamy, more milk than tea, and she practically melts back into her nest of blankets where she sits, clutching the cup close to her chest.

A sigh. Era is truly a creature of heat and warmth, even for all she calls the frozen peaks of Abalathia's Spine her home. ]

Thank you.

[Chaos, they say.

Somnus glances at Emet-Selch before reaching for a cup of tea. He's not tasted it yet, so there's no need for milk or sugar. Years spent as an intangible existence have seemingly dulled his palate enough that he still doesn't reach for either upon taking a sip. Lowering the cup, he nods in Emet-Selch's direction—his thanks for the hospitality.]

[Ugh, honestly. The smile Somnus gets in return is the same sort of sharp as the one that initially called him out on his fratricides, softened only a little by the cup of tea and the way Emet-Selch seats himself beside Era's nest.]

You know, Your Majesty, if I had known you were going to become this boring, I never would have revealed that I knew your brother.

[ She glances between Hades and Somnus from over the rim of her teacup, impossibly blue eyes bright and observing with keen interest. Inevitably, Era ends up shifting and shuffling until she is not-quite physically touching her companion, but leaning into his presence like a flower to the sun. ]

[Era’s silence is confirmation of a number of things—chiefly, that she hadn’t meant to invite him in, after all, and had resorted to seeking Emet-Selch’s help upon finding herself with accidental company. Company that is poor, at that. These are his brother’s friends, and he shouldn’t be here.

Breaking eye contact, he takes a longer sip before answering tonelessly:]

You have brewed fine tea. I will finish it, then take my leave.

[It is rare indeed that Emet-Selch shows his irritation, being the consummate politician that time has forged him into. His being is the very definition of a mask, and it does not slip unless he means it to.

It slips now, in his posture, in the way the pitch of his voice rises to a tone that can only be called snotty.]

You brothers are similar in the very most obnoxious of ways, you know. What would it take to convince you, Somnus Lucis Caelum, that your company might in fact be desirable? That to simply exist is not such a great sin that you need not bear it alone?

It is not my place to forgive you what you've done, but nor is it my place to judge. It is, however, my place to tell you, as one who has borne a gods-given duty for long enough to make Ardyn look young, that the path you insist upon serves none. Standing alone and swearing to duty will not redeem you.

[He closes his eyes, clearly still irritated, but tone perhaps a bit gentler.]

It is not my place to say it, but I doubt you will hear it from any other, so I shall. Even in his nightmares, even knowing that it was nothing but his fears wearing your face, Ardyn would not cut you down. He would not want this for you.

[ At the shift in his tone Era tilts subtly away. For all that she generally finds his voice pleasant, when it twists into that grating cadence... Her nose crinkles, but she listens to his words all the same, for he is not wont to say things without purpose.

When his tone softens the tension drains from her shoulders. His words, as they so often do, give her cause for contemplation.

In the end, she gives a small nod. Shifts her tea so it's close to her chest and not liable to spill as she speaks. ]

It is not our place to say such things, no. [ Era is not a fan of speaking on behalf of another, but understands that some situations — and people — are in need of it. ]

But H— Emet-Selch speaks true. Even in the worst of his nightmares he would not strike you down.

Whatever it is that you're doing... [ She doesn't know for certain, just that something is off. ] Ardyn would not wish this upon his enemy, let alone his brother.

[Through it all, Somnus’ expression remains fixed. Invoking his full name appears to draw no reaction out of him as he takes a longer sip of tea.

His brother has found people who will rally beside and think the best of him—even speak on his behalf where he is voiceless. Unlike with the Xiu Ya, these words stem from what seems to be a place of genuine connection.

Here, his brother retains some semblance of his old humanity. There are traces of him that are recognizable, if distorted. (Truly, the Scourge is a terrible thing.) He’s a being who’s capable of forming bonds, whereas Somnus has long passed that threshold of humanity to serve as a timeless arbiter of power.

Sinful though his existence may be, there’s the matter of his reason for being in this city. He doesn’t exist to serve himself, and being in this room to provide entertainment serves none.]

I do not stand alone; nor do I swear myself to duty to redeem myself, but to guard the future.

[Such a change in tune, Somnus, considering how willing you were to question the hosts of Havenwell upon your first arrival.

Really, you should never have made yourself so interesting. Emet-Selch has a very, very long memory, and quite the history of never letting go of what he wants.

Such as now, when he sets his teacup back down on its saucer. He does not glance at Era, who is far more a guardian of the future than he, steward of the past, will ever be, but to her the way he does not look at her may as well be a sign. Those without shadows are so often in what they are not, after all.]

If you are not alone, then who stands beside you? And if your duty is to the future, then how does isolating yourself with the past serve it? Should you not be seeking what olive branches and alliances you might?

[ With Hades having stolen the words from her, Era settles for giving Somnus the most dubious of looks. ]

[Ardyn himself said that he’s ill-suited for the world. This in tandem with their history, why coerce him into contact and risk destabilizing him even more?‌ No sense in disrupting what has already been established when connections can be achieved elsewhere. There are other, more willing participants in the city.

With the teacup held before his lips, Somnus thinks. For one, there’s . . .

“I promise not to hurt you.”

And another, whose presence feeds further into his remorse:‌ “Pray take care of yourself.”‌

“You as well, dear Somnus. I would like to see you again.”]

Nothing can be accomplished alone. There are others.

Your words and actions wage a great war, you know. If you know that you cannot succeed alone...

[Whether Era finishes the thought or leaves it as well to hang, it remains. Somnus is doing his damnedest to be lonely, even if he accepts not being alone.]

Surely a king who managed to create a kingdom of such staying power realizes that half-hearted cooperation accomplishes little more than none.

There is a difference.

[ Her voice is as strong and confident as the Warrior of Light and Darkness that she is, however she soon falters; pauses. Wonders if she is the best choice to continue speaking the words on her tongue. If they would hold the same weight.

She gives a faint, quick shake of her head, realigning her thoughts. There are likely few better qualified than her to say the following, and so she speaks again: ]

Between being alone, and being alone. There is a difference.

[ While she doesn't speak again immediately, it's clear enough that she's gathering her thoughts and putting consideration into her words. ]

Surrounded by comrades-in-arms, allies, rivals, friends, enemies, family... The entire world could be by your side, and still you would be alone.

[ For so long it had been her mantle that set a distance between her and most others. People had expectations of her, and she did her best to live up to them. In doing so, she also set herself apart from others. Became living legend and was treated as such. ]

To accept the hand one offers would require you to reach for their hand in turn, and this is something you seem to deny yourself.

As you are now, you will accomplish nothing because you offer nothing.

[ It is still odd to speak at such length in one burst, especially when she knows at least one person here will listen. Her throat aches and she takes a sip of her tea, permitting herself to tilt her weight sideways now to lean more fully against her ... person of unfortunately grand significance. (her own unconscious way of stealing some comfort, both physical and not.)

She does not know Somnus, nor the precise details of his circumstance, nor what it is he is doing. She does not like to make assumptions, but so too has he made it impossible to gain any insight.

Still, as she sips her tea she feels embarrassed; uncomfortable. Doubts that she should have said anything rather than simply staying silent, as she is so accustomed to being.

Another sip of tea.

(she wishes it were hot chocolate). ]

[Through it all, he drinks. No matter what is said, he doesn’t break his pace as he listens.

Theirs is a most imperious display, forged by myriad assumptions. They are, however, at least correct in that he's eschewed bonds, for it's not what this world requires. His mind, body, and soul have been given away and taken, whereas his unnecessary heart must remain closed. It isn't about isolation—he knows the difference, and rather intimately—but about what's necessary.

He didn't awaken here for reconciliation. Perhaps it's half-hearted to shirk his new duty by picking and choosing with whom he forges alliances of contact, but he refuses to manipulate his brother for a second time. This is his sole boundary. Selfishly seeking his brother's company could also affect Ardyn's bonds and contribution to the world. Ultimately, he's here to serve as a tool that's been oiled with blood and wrapped in flesh.

Bearing that in mind, Somnus cranes his neck toward Emet-Selch and Era with what one might describe as an expression of cold, practiced apathy. Very well, he thinks. They are not his brother, so he'll accept this undue intrusion.]

If it is my hand you desire, you will have it.

[But no more, and not now amid this farce. Setting the empty teacup down, Somnus rises. He'll see himself out.]

[Emet-Selch, for his part, merely sighs. Patience does not mean letting none of his frustration show, after all.]

Very well, then. If you must.

[He will not force the man, as, after all, that would make him little better than those who have brought them all here.

But it wouldn't be him if he wasn't at the least a little condescending about it.]

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♥ November Event Log

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