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

[Honerva follows, and catches up to fall into step with Lup, even if she barely lifts her feet as she walks, with her particular gait.]

Perhaps that is to be expected, in a world with a shortage of resources, or a lack of a necessity for them.

[And yet, it called those to it those who might require such things. An oversight, by these gods.]

I had wondered if it would withstand the conditions... beyond. You had mentioned utilizing it while on other difficult worlds.

Mm... I thought about that. But I'd have to see how it works first, give it a test-drive in a safer zone. Technically I can cast it once a day, and it lasts for 24 hours, but that's under normal circumstances. We've noticed that pocket dimensions don't always work the way they're designed when brought to other worlds.

[Lup gestures with both hands, forming a square shape- or a door.]

Something about how the magic takes hold, I think- it has to be fixed to a point, but our magic's unbalanced in a universe that isn't made for us, y'know? It happened back in the fleet, with my mansion and Taako's pocket spa. Limited use that went beyond even the usual.

More limitations...

[Disappointing, but not surprising.]

With the scarcity of the materials, we would require even more care with such a use. And we do not want to risk contamination seeping into Taako's spa. He would be furious.

He'd be more than furious. He'd probably set the house on fire.

[Seriously, you don't mess with the spa. That's his only escape these days.]

[Even she knew how fiercely protective he was of it. And even with the little Taako had spoken to her of such things, it was important that something that guaranteed his mental well-being remained... protected.]

Inevitably we could find another house, but it would be less likely that he could replace the spa. Let alone his... trust. I see no reason to incur such wrath from him.

Nah, fuck that. Too much effort.

[Nevermind that she was the one who suggested they house crash to begin with. It clearly wasn't something she put much thought into.

It doesn't take them long to reach a cafe, and after paying a quick fee she starts poking at the options while the machine scans them in.]

Looks like they've got a few different versions... what do you think, does any of 'em grab you?

[Too much, indeed. For someone who took many things as seriously as Honerva, identifying whenever Lup considered something was a whim was... a task, but at least she wasn't as exhausting about such things as her brother.

She glances through at the options when Lup mentions a choice. For someone like her, it's not too inspiring, but they are here to gain some benefit. She's quiet for a moment, letting Lup shift through the choices.]

Not especially, but... what is that fourth one?

[The background colors it was on had drawn her attention.]

[Lup gives it a read, nodding slowly the further in she gets, then slaps the selection and sprawls into the chair nearby.]

Done and done! I dig the idea of getting this kind of soak without the sticky aftermath. See you on the other side!

[She shoves the helmet on, plugging in... and then says out loud, after a moment,]

Huh. Hope they're not broadcasting this somewhere.

[AND THAT'S IT]

[Been there, done that, Lup, but Honerva actually laughs, at that quip, at just how true it might be. She gives the helmet a careful look over before following suit, allowing her eyes to close for a moment to ease the shift of her heightened senses in adjusting to the "new", false, reality.

The aesthetic was what had drawn her attention. It reminded her of... quintessence, in a way, which was both an intriguing and not very comforting thought.

She expects that Lup would already have immersed herself by the time she shows up.]

[She is indeed immersed! Right up to her shoulders, hair bound up and wrapped around her head to keep it out of the water, with the spread of seven soaring birds tattooed across her shoulderblades. She is also, apparently, naked as a jaybird under the water, and looks entirely unbothered by this as she glances over her shoulder to greet Honerva.]

Turns out, clothes are optional here.

[... Yeah this is about what she expected. Nothing but confidence radiating from Lup. She was always quick to shed her layers, even her own body. And while Honerva was certainly the first one out when it came time to explore even a potentially toxic situation just because she thought she'd be able to handle it, she was always far more cautious when it came to accepting anything meant to be soothing and comfortable or even remotely indicative of vulnerability.

On another level, there was a practicality involved; with the adaptive nature of their bodies, Alteans had a tendency to keep their skin protected. Most ordinary garments covered everything, and even when she hadn't known who or what she was, there were some habits that were far too innate for her species for even the loss of memory to fully strip away. Irony.

Still, this was but a simulation, where such things would not matter. It was all on another level of perception. She reaches down, first, testing the "water" by dipping her hand into it. Huh.]

I see. Do you find that it feels... authentic?

It does, actually. In a really, really weird way. Like, this is a computer, right? So why the hell are we feeling any of this?

[She reaches down to cup the water between both her hands, watching it dribble out the bottom through the cracks of her fingers.]

I can feel every drop. It's kinda fucked up.

[So strange. Even with her own cursory testing of the water, the way she kneels at the edge and cups her hands and lets it trickle through her own fingers.]

Why, indeed. Or perhaps... the question is how. This technology was manufactored to create an experience that would imitate reality. The quality of this level of perception is... ingenious. It interacts with the mind in such a way that even being aware of how false it is, the sensation and engagement of the senses is greater than that of illusion. Though perhaps not all of the senses.

[Taste seemed to be something the natives struggled with particularly, but for all else, it seemed immersive enough, for all that it was false. And of course, there was that other sense beyond the rest.]

... Almost as if we were dreaming while awake.

Mm... it makes me think of a programmed illusion, or a pocket dimension. My mansion's similar, right? The space itself only exists through magic, so it isn't real. But everything feels real enough to call it that. The food tastes good and fills your stomach, you can sleep there and wake up well-rested.

[She leans forward and drops her hands back against the water, swishing them back and forth over the surface.]

Perhaps...

[If she thinks about it, such programmed illusions don't go so beyond what she knew technology to be capable of. Merely -- there was never any reason, to develop it in this way. She thinks of training programs that must have existed, to train for reactions and endurance. She had been away from it all for some time. Such things were not immediate without a proper frame of reference. They certainly could create pocket dimensions with technology.

Lup's mention of her mansion also helps. It is still curious that the people here had achieved such heights and had lost themselves so thoroughly to it.

That said, Honerva walks around to the other side of the bath, taking a few moments to discard her slippers and outermost layers and sitting by the edge of the tub in a robe with her legs dipped in, twisting her hair up as well.]

I should like a closer look at their technology, though I imagine they would not appreciate that inquiry.

Dunno. I actually haven't given this VR stuff much attention, so I haven't thought to ask. I get them being squirrely about letting us in their labs, or finding out how the shield works, but virtual escapism seems kind of... innocuous?

[It doesn't strike her as something dangerous that they could be researching.]

Perhaps it is. However, it does leave us vulnerable, should anything go awry.

[This all still from the woman who went poking about outside a protective barrier, but go figure. At least she had command over her own senses there instead of being virtually not asleep. Her hair secured, she gently shrugs her robe away and slips down further into the waiting waters. Below her shoulders, her arms bear deep red markings, similar to those on her face, extending far further than they should, a crisp yet slightly jagged line that ends above her elbows.]

Yeah, but there's spells for that. And I'm not really keen on missing out thanks to my own paranoia.

[Been there, done that, hated it. She resisted the urge to do this VR thing for months, actually, for this very reason. But you gain nothing if you don't at least try.

She tilts her head curiously at those marks; she'd seen the face ones, of course, but Honerva is so rarely uncovered that this is likely new.]

That's an Altean thing, right?

Fair enough.

[They were here now trying it out together, so that was beside the point. Certainly far safer than their traipsing beyond the wall, paranoia or not.

Lup's next words are... unexpected, as she realizes what is being referred to. Ever since she had started going along with the twins referring to her as an elf, she had never any reason to acknowledge her actual roots out loud, since it was hardly even asked. And she was certainly always covered up in the company of others. This was new.]

... yes, it is. Although I suppose these must have changed when I did.

Is there a reason for that? Like, is it just a kind of evolution that happens, or - what's it mean?

[Honerva's welcome to tell her to piss off (as unlikely as it seems) but she can't help her curiosity. She's spent time teaching the other woman about the cultures and traditions of her home or Faerun, but due to those memory lapses, she hadn't thought to ask much in the other direction until now.]

[She makes a soft thoughtful sound, almost similar to ones that she's heard from Lup, and falls quiet for a moment, settling herself further in the water while drawing to mind the memory of her face from years past. She tries to think of other Alteans too, to grasp a sense of comparison for such a thing, though that's a lot more difficult.]

... These markings usually remain as a constant for an Altean throughout their lives. Though colors may differ, it remains an identifying trait of the race itself, rather than anything meaningful. Some are more sensitive depending on our ... ability to feel or channel quintessence.

[There's a lingering pause after that word. She often goes out of her way to not say it, which Lup might even notice.]

What must have happened to mine was... unprecedented, though I do not doubt it was the exposure that led to this... mutation.

Do you remember if they're different from how they were before it happened?

[She shifts a bit closer in the water, to get a more thorough and clear view of what's visible above the surface. So it's a racial difference, huh... but one that can appear or reappear based on very specific circumstances? Very interesting, indeed.]

[There's that familiar pause, of her thinking, trying to recall those wispy details that liked to slip away.]

... They were smaller, before my years of work on the rift. It is difficult to remember such things clearly, but perhaps I was already changing just from being nearby it for so long. I was highly skilled, but not as... for lack of a better description, magical as I am now.

...So... how do you feel about having them now?

... It is difficult to say. They are... a reminder of what has changed.

[ Her gaze shifts to the surface of the water. ]

There was a time when I was unaware of my origins, and my appearance was different in other ways as well. It was only recently that I recalled that Alteans have an innate ability to... shift to blend in with the people around them, whether it is deliberate or not. I found my way back to my original appearance, but... these have persisted.

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