♥ 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

Ciel Phantomhive | Kuroshitsuji

[sweetlies]

[I.]

[He's not very strong or terribly skilled. But he'll be found carrying what supplies her can to those who are actually working on the wall. More than once, he'll be spotted taking a rest. Even at sixteen, the Phantomhive boy wasn't build for actual labor.]

Do you need anything?

[Comes the teens voice, just behind whoever he's found at the wall.]

[II.]

[At first, Ciel thinks it's just his running around that has him feeling so awful. So he just took a short break to have a drink of water and a quick bit of food, before he went right back to trying to help.

Except it wasn't enough and it's getting harder to really do anything. He feels heavy and tired and overheated. And he just wants to lay down and sleep.

He doesn't though, not right away. Instead, Ciel keeps trying to work.]

[IV.]

[After he got sick, and recovered, Ciel cut back on time around the wall. And by cut down, he actually cut it entirely out of his daily tasks. To fill in that newly freed time, he made his way to one of the VR cafes. He still liked games and this VR technology had definitely managed to hold his interest with all the new games and scenarios they kept offering.

He tries each scenario, mostly hoping that one of them won't require him to be naked while in the virtual space. It's not that he's ashamed of his body, especially since his brand had been removed two years before. No, it was that he grew up in a time when nobody but his future wife was supposed to see him without clothes.

So anyone that finds themselves paired with his 'game' will find the young man covering himself as best he can with his hands or a towel. Or by completely sinking into the water.]

[wildcard]

[Anything goes! Seriously!]

II.

[onebadapple]

That's enough of that, I think.

[There is a very gentle hand on his shoulder while the other pressed against his forehead.]

Oh! You're burning up!

[Snow White had been ushering people and back and forth from the tent, being a bedside nurse and handing out food and cuddles to any in need. She pushed back some of his hair from his sweating brow.]

To bed with you, Ciel. [She soothed turning him around in the direction of where all the sick are being housed.] I've a stew waiting for you as well and a nice long nap. Come come, no arguing.

[sweetlies]

[There's a confused sound from him at first, until that hand touches his forehead. And, for a moment, all he can think about it how cool that touch is and lets out a bit of a sigh.

And then he realizes just what's going on. And huffs.]

I'm fine. I've been worse off before.

[He's not the most steady on his feet by now though. And so he's easily steered where ever Snow White likes.]

[onebadapple]

Oh, I'm sure you have, but so long as I am around, you will not be running around like this!

[She continues her gentle guidance to the tent.]

It's November, Ciel, and you feel like you've been in the middle of a Spanish July! Not that I've been to Spain, but I have heard it's terribly hot there. No no, I'll hear none of it.

Besides, aren't you hungry?

[sweetlies]

[What is she, his mother?

Actually, Rachel would probably have been just as pushy about it, even if she were just as sick or bedridden. Or she'd try.]

I'm fine-

[He tries to object but... actually-]

I suppose I'm a bit hungry.

[onebadapple]

Then since you're a bit hungry, you should have a bit to eat, don't you think?

Come come, time to put something in your tummy.

[They get inside the tent and she gestures to one of the beds, her hands still on his shoulders.]

Now then, Ciel, do you like stew?

[sweetlies]

[His stomach rumbles a little and he gives a little grumble, making his way to settle on the edge of the bed.]

Stew is nice. Undertaker makes stew for us sometimes, it's good. Sebastian sometimes made it but it wasn't often, not appropriate for an Earl's table.

IV I COULD NOT RESIST never mind that she has very little inclination to actually play these lol

[morality_pet]

[ Rin, of course, is from Japan. Home of the Onsen.

She blinks at Ciel ]

You shouldn't bring the towel into the water - you'll make the water dirty!

RIN NO

[sweetlies]

[Ciel straightens, gripping the towel all the more tightly. Any chances of him letting it go have gone completely out the window, however small they might have been.]

The towel is clean. [He objects, carefully keeping his eyes just to the side of Rin. Polite and respectful.] I'm not going to sit around naked for others to see.

RIN YES

[morality_pet]

You can't bring it into the water.

[ she insists , scandalized ]

Your hair can't touch the water either! Did you wash first?

NOOOOO

[sweetlies]

[He can't help but scoff.] How utterly ridiculous. It's water. I'm not exposing myself to other people, especially not a lady.

[And even more: a lady as young as Rin.]

Re: NOOOOO

[morality_pet]

Nooooo its an onsen! The pool is for soaking! Must be clean first! Then sit and soak. No towels or bathers or hair.

[sweetlies]

It's water, it's going to get dirty and need changed eventually. What kind of difference will this make?

[And why is he arguing this?]

II

[iustaegis]

[ Ah...! It's that boy from the network! Ciel Phantomhive, he had said.

Doesn't he just look ill, almost as if he's about to collapse! ] Ah--

[ Should he be within reach, he'll feel a hand upon his wrist, giving him a gentle tug as if to stop him. Her gaze washes over him, concern ever-growing more apparent the more she takes in how frail he seems. Yet he appears to be doing what he can regardless, fighting through it, trudging along, step after heavy step, continuing on to help the rebuilding effort. He's selfless, he's proud.

Yet she worries. ] ...Just how long have you been working out here? Without rest?

[sweetlies]

[He practically jumps out of his skin when he feels that hand wrap around his wrist. Even after a few years of adjusting to being around more people, being more personable, it's hard to shake off some traumas.

And then he sees just who it it and he lets some of the tension melt away. Not all of it though, he can't help a huff at the question.]

Only a couple of hours.

[iustaegis]

[ She notices the tenseness that follows his touch, and in response her grip loosens by a margin. If anything, her expression only grows more concerned. ]

A couple of hours is... far too long without rest. [ She urges quietly, motioning with her other hand to the medical tent set up not too far away. ] You've been working so hard...

[ She gives him a small smile. ] Let's get you a blanket, alright?

[sweetlies]

[There's a whine, almost, equal parts tired and irritated like he's being singled out.]

Other people have been working longer. [He's pretty sure anyway. He hasn't been paying attention.]

[iustaegis]

We're all doing our part.

[ Some do work longer. Others do not. Everyone does what they can, she believes; he should not compare himself to what some of the otherworlders might be able to do, what with their magics and strengths so vastly above a normal human's. ]

But you can get right back to helping them... after you rest.

[ At last, they reach their destination, and she lifts the flap of the tent's entrance for him. Here, she quickly spots a cot and begins to lead him there. ]

[sweetlies]

[Unfortunately, that's exactly what he does and can't help but do. He'd made efforts in England to be the capable one, an Earl who supported his estate and his Queen. To be like his brother and father. That meant being strong and reliable.

It was different now. Now he just wanted that for himself, to be a useful, helpful, individual.]

I don't need to. [He tries to object, looking back at her with a huff and then at the cot she's gotten him over to.] Someone else needs this more.

II.

[hellish_butler]

[Sebastian is also on the site as well, helping to rebuild the wall. It amuses the demon to see he's getting exercise in some form and doing manual labor.]

You know, my Lord. I think it's quite refreshing to see you roll up your sleeves and help others.

[However, Sebastian noticed he is becoming ill.]

However, don't you think you need to rest...?

[Just a light suggestion.]

[sweetlies]

[He blinks up at Sebastian, a faint tension forming in his shoulders and stomach, but he knows he's safe.]

I've actually been working a bit for a few years now. I have two businesses on one world and was the ships cook when Atroma had kidnapped us.

[Huffffffff!]

I'm alright. Just a bit tired, I'll get some water in a bit.

[hellish_butler]

[At that, Sebastian smiled a little. If only he could have been to those worlds. For now, this is the first.]

Well, it seems you made progress. [Colored him impressed.] Beyond expectations that of an Earl.

If you're tired, you should rest and sit. I can fetch you water.

[Which he did, so he's handing a cup of water for him to drink.]

[sweetlies]

Undertaker has been a good influence. [Probably not something Sebastian wants to hear after the Campania and his brothers resurrection.] Being an Earl doesn't afford one much influence in other worlds.

[He could use a little rest but...]

Just a few minutes, someone might need help.

[Oh but that water gets a thank you and he drains it quickly. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was.]

[hellish_butler]

[Sebastian simply listens. He hasn't been his butler for those years where Astre has been in those worlds. He does wonder if his Earldom has been taken away by his brother and if he could ever reclaim it back?]

Not much influence. So I suggest you don't worry about it.

[Since they haven't seen his twin brother anywhere in this world, that's one Sebastian is certain off.]

Still, think about your health. There's a recovery tent nearby if you need to lie down. Remember I was scolded when I didn't look after you properly? Then I have to make soups for you.

[As Sebastian assists by lifting a few heavy bricks to clear the debris as he works by his side.]

[sweetlies]

I'll try not to.

[If Ciel were there, Undertaker would almost certainly have solved his brothers... health problem by now. And, luckily, he'd told Astre everything by now. Or Mostly everything.]

At least Aunt Francis and Lizzie aren't here to scold you now. [Ih but if they were...

Actually, maybe he should. Word would reach them if they every did end up on Aellyn.] I suppose a few minutes couldn't hurt.