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

Scowling, Kyoko curls up tighter in her blanket. Ugh, she's always been so good about dealing with sickness on her own, but what's she supposed to do about this? You can't take medicine early on to stem off the worst of it if that medicine just isn't available!

"It's irresponsible," she grumbles, "to the point of cruelty...! Kidnapping us to use our skins and nervous systems, but they didn't even make sure they could really keep us alive.... Like we're pet gerbils."

"Right?"

He moves to sit up a little bit, in order to be Properly Outraged by the whole situation, but the action is rewarded with a short string of shallow coughs. Alas.

"Ah, haa..." Okay, back down with you, Tamaki. "Nagicchi says it's good of us to help out, but shouldn't they be helping us out too in return for it?"

This whole thing is weird!! It's super weird!!!

Kyoko had been content to enjoy the company of someone who Gets It from the safety of her blanket cocoon, but that little coughing fit gives her pause. After a bit of wriggling, a gap is made in the blankets for her sleepy face to peek out.

"'Cause they'll just get new ones if we die," she says simply, "the same as kids with gerbils. Or hamsters, guinea pigs.... Did you drink any water when you came in here?" A totally natural transition in conversation.

"Ugh, this sucks. I don't want to die here when nobody back home even knows where I am."

That would actually be the worst possible outcome after being swept away to this bizarre little robot-world, he thinks. He's wrapped up enough in the awfulness of that potential scenario that Kyoko's question takes him a moment to even catch.

"Ah? Yeah, a little bit." He's not as immune to taking care of himself as some of the other offworlders! "Don't know how much it actually helped, though..."

That's right, isn't it? Nobody at home would know what had happened to her. And after she'd finally found people she could really say she liked, who she might even matter to a little bit....

Kyoko abruptly pushes herself upright with a shiver, arranging her blanket around her shoulders like an oversized shawl as her feet find the ground. "You have to keep drinking it! Along with rest, hydration is the number one most important key to getting better!"

Huh? She's getting up...? Even though she feels so miserable?

There's a moment where Tamaki kind of weighs the situation out. On one hand, having someone grab him some water sounds like a really nice plan, but... someone who is probably feeling at least as bad as he is? Maybe more? He doesn't exactly want to tell her not to go, but it feels a little cruel to ask her to help out under these circumstances.

Ah... hmmm.......

"Okay," he sounds somewhere between resigned and just... tired, but he bundles himself up in that blanket and sits up, though quite a bit more leisurely than Kyoko's pace. "We should go get some more, then."

They will both go, now everything feels even.

Is she feeling worse than Tamaki? Hard to say, really. It's been a long time since Kyoko got really sick, herself, and she's been able to manage physical discomfort since she was little. She doesn't doubt she can handle fetching a couple drinks.

The idea of needing help is so far from her mind, she has to stop and stare blankly at Tamaki when he moves to get up. "... Uh... no. No, I mean, I... have two hands. I'll get some for you while I'm up."

If they're both commiserating over their lives potentially ending in such a sorry state, then he's got no reason to believe she might be better off than him in any way!

But, alas, he has already made up his mind about this. He waves off the protest as he pulls that blanket more securely around his shoulders, carefully putting his feet to the ground and standing up. "Better than laying here alone thinking about how helpless this all feels."

Wallow in misery alone? Or cling to some company through what will probably be a perilous journey? A tough call, probably, but he has made his choice.

"What... so you get lonely that quickly?" Kyoko's not 100% sure she buys that reason, but she also doesn't know Tamaki super well. Maybe he's just kind of a clingy person? It's a more palatable explanation than her first thought, though; making him feel obliged would have been Bad. "This tent isn't so big that you'll die before I get back."

She looks back as she pads off, though, to make sure he's not having trouble following.

"Hmm..." That's a somewhat affirmative sounding grumble. Maybe! (When he's feeling down? Yes.) "I'd hope it's not that big," or that the illness isn't that fast-acting. But. Who knows?

He's following at a decently steady pace, at least. He doesn't seem so woozy that he's about to lose his balance, and he's not moving so slowly that he can't exactly keep up. It's taking a bit of focus on his part, but a trip to get some water isn't the most taxing thing to be doing right now.

If she were feeling just a little less hazy, Kyoko would probably roll her eyes at that noise. Jeez, there are baby men everywhere she goes, from one world to another, huh. It's universal.

But the quest for water is pretty quiet from there, at least on Kyoko's end. Upon reach the destination, Kyoko coolly shoves a cup into Tamaki's hand. "Drink it all right now." Chug.

Baby men is a universal constant, unfortunately. Sorry you have to keep experiencing it even here, with this absolute child of a 17 year old, Kyoko.

He doesn't particularly mind a quiet journey, but punctuating it with a demand like that is a little shocking. "Ah - uh, yeah." Okay. "Thanks." At least he can remember to have a scrap of manners, goodness. But! Okay! Let's down as much of this water as possible!

Chug!

Maybe. Like. Half of the cup before he needs to take a breather. That's still a pretty good start.

At least he seems to be an obedient baby man. A step up from the others she's known!

Kyoko nods approvingly, filling up a cup for herself. "Yeah! That's good fighting spirit. As long as you it doesn't choke you, keep going! Tip your head back and defeat it."

He's feeling too worn down to be petulant! At least he has that much going for him.

"I got it, I got it." He... he does appreciate the cheer squad thing she's got going on, just give him a moment to recover a tiny bit! But, all right! Here he goes! Polishing that last half of the water!!

Wao!

"There-!" Such an effort. He'll even do the hard work of refilling his own cup up. "Make sure you finish your's, too."

Is she the cheer squad, or is she the hardened old coach yelling from his corner of the boxing ring. The spirit is there either way! Kyoko nods vigorously and sets out to follow up that stunning water drinking display with one of her own.

Just kidding she coughs on the first big mouthful and possibly delivers an accidental headbutt to Tamaki's arm as she buckles over. Go team, fight.

More like... go team, swim, am I right? Hah. Hah.

That fresh cup of water he had in hand? Knocked loose from his grasp by that stray headbutt with a startled, "Whoa--!!" But there are! More pressing things to be concerned with here! Besides a cup of spilled water!

"Whoa, whoa, hey! Easy there!"

Here, have a couple of firm, steady pats to the back to try and shake those coughs!

Kyoko's pretty occupied with hacking up a lung, so there isn't much time to contemplate whether she should recoil from his touch or something. Which is good, because that would be a really weird and rude thing to do.

It's also good because those pats actually do help a lot, it seems. After a few moments, the coughing eases enough that Kyoko can gasp and wheeze and look up at Tamaki meekly.

"Sorry... I was too--arrogant..."

For what it's worth, his touch only lingers for a little while longer once it seems like the choking hazard of it all has made its exit. He does remember Kyoko being kind of weird about not taking a hold of his hand before, so once it's clear she's out of the choking-danger-zone and breathing mostly fine again? Hands off, easy peasy.

"You tried your best." Said with the utmost seriousness. A frosty glass of water is not something that can be defeated with gusto alone, apparently. "Take a breather, then go for round two."

Wow, is he even making fun of her? It would make more sense if he was, but somehow it's hard to tell. It's enough to keep Kyoko sheepish.

Combing fingers through her missed bangs, Kyoko brought her cup to her mouth demurely. "Thank you... Um, you're still pretty tired, right. Please don't feel like you have to wait for me here."

Well, yeah, he's still tired. But they've both gone this far together, why duck out early now? As if it's some grand adventure, and not just a trip to get some water, jeez...

"Eh? It's fine." He should. Uh. Go ahead and retrieve that cup that was knocked out of his hands, though. May as well just get a whole new cup and everything at this point, huh?

"... What the heck," she mumbles into her cup.A few minutes ago she had thought he was an obedient baby man, but now that seems less accurate. "Are you just immune to favors?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

♥ November Event Log

never worry! and it's fair game to assume she told him her name at some point, then

Fantastic, and likewise!

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finally sees the hovertext in your last tag and weeps softly