♥ December Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

December (Ranir) Event Log
The city of Havenwell is recovering very well thanks to your efforts, offworlders. The hole in the wall is sealed up and, while maybe not looking like new, it certainly looks sturdy and safe. The city itself has removed much of the rubble from the battles you fought, and the people are back to their regularly scheduled lives. They're eternally grateful that you continue to put in the time to rebuild this final bastion of civilization and are pleased to see that you enjoyed their festivals so far. As the weather of Ranir turns colder and the nights longer, some may even see snow dust the cobblestone and paved streets in the morning. The time of Rawna has come and with it...

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❥ PROMPT I: At Least It's Not a Sweater

Normally when a new season belonging to a god rolls around, the temple priests gear up and start with temple festivities. Seeing how this is Rawna's month, however, nothing much of the sort seems to be happening. In fact, it's almost as if Rawna's priests don't even care that their god's season has started. Rawna is, after all, chiefly the god of Apathy, so is it all that surprising?

What might be surprising is the sight of Ainea's priests in pairs out around the city in their stead. Each pair carries with them a single bright silver sash and they alternatively stand in broad daylight or hide in the shadows of the buildings. Walk by on your own and you'll be left alone, but when the priests spot two people walking even remotely near each other, they spring into action.

The two robotic priests zip around you and another person with surprising speed, tying the sash off around you - either around your wrists, your waists, your legs, whatever it takes to tie you to another person. With a triumphant buzz of excitement, they declare "Happy Ranir! Kindness comes in many forms!" and depart to find a new pair of victims patrons. As they leave, one of the pair calls out an additional clue for you: "Be kind to unwind!"

Good luck, everyone, you're now stuck with this other person. You can either wait until the sash naturally falls off in a few hours, or you can take the direction of the priests and be kind to the other person to encourage the magical knot to come undone. Each compliment, word of encouragement, or other act of kindness directed at your new partner seems to loosen the sash a little each time, so get to winning the Niceness War.

Oh, and in case you were thinking of blasting, teleporting, or cutting your way out? No amount of magic or physical force seems capable of cutting or removing the sash. Hopefully you went to the bathroom before they got you.

❥ PROMPT II: A Delicious Delight

After a long hard day of dodging Ainea's priests or just slogging through the colder weather around the city, what could be better than imbibing a seasonally festive drink? Well, the scientists in charge of Experiment 73 certainly think so! They've added a limited edition drink selection to all of the replicators and have some delightfully festive booths spread about the city staffed by a few robots wearing Rawna's colors in their sashes and hats. There are five drinks in total to choose from and you should certainly try them! They're only here until the end of the month and then the scientists say they'll be gone! The best things in life are fleeting, aren't they? The best things in life are also surprises, so when you take a sip of these exquisitely delicious (honest! For once they're good) beverages, prepare yourself for a little trick with your treat.

• Ginger and Honey Tea: A hot, thoroughly warming drink with the bite of ginger and the sweetness of honey. Drink this and you'll be shored up against the cold, but also feel compelled to tell or blurt out the truth. Whether you're asked a question or trying to tell a little white lie, you find you can't say anything but the truth. This effect lasts for up to an hour after drinking the tea.
  
• Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie: A cold sweet treat of vanilla smoothie topped with sweet strawberry pieces and whipped cream. At the bottom, you'll find a layer of sweet sponge cake cut up into pieces. Drink this with its own special thick straw and enjoy the taste of cake; and the effect of a personal miniature snow cloud that appears over your head. The cloud dusts you and your immediate area within a foot of you with beautiful multicolored snow - and that snow leaves splotches of color behind that last for up to an hour after drinking the smoothie.
  
• Hot Cinnamon Apple Cider: A deliciously steamy beverage that tastes of apple and cinnamon and comes with a cinnamon stick stirrer for effect. This beverage smells as delicious as it tastes and the aroma wafts around the area more strongly than the others. Drink this penultimate holiday drink and you'll find yourself heating up so much that you'll want to stay cold by giving your heat away via holding someone else. You'll want to be everyone's personal heater for up to an hour after drinking the cider.
  
• Gingerbread Latte: A nice piping hot latte with the hint of gingerbread threaded through the coffee, topped with whipped cream and dusted with gingerbread spice. Served in a tall red cup that seems to transfer the heat uncannily well through its thin walls, sip this and you'll find yourself painlessly sprouting an animal's appendage at random. You can have one functioning or non-functioning, cosmetic animal appendage like a cat's ears, a dog's tail, a duck's beak or whatever else you can think of for up to an hour after drinking the latte. They can replace your original body part (e.g. your ears become cat ears) or grow superfluously (e.g. you have regular ears AND cat ears). You can move the appendages or talk with them as if they are your own, but they don't confer any special magical powers with them. So you can fly with those griffin wings, sure, but you're going to need to put the effort into it.
  
• Hot Mulled Wine (alcoholic): This one isn't for children - and in fact, under 18 people might find it hard (but not impossible, be industrious, little ones!) to get their hands on this drink. Red wine is heated with spices and citrus fruit over low heat for several hours - or it would if it wasn't all synthetically created. The effect is the same though, a delicious adult beverage that's a nice way to spend an evening with someone special. And you'll want them to be someone special because drinking the hot wine makes you inclined to get a little steamy with people. Kisses, both chaste and passionate, seem to alleviate the urge which you'll be under for up to an hour after drinking the wine.

❥ PROMPT III: Winter (VR) Wonderland

There isn't quite enough snow on the ground to allow it in reality, but in the VR Cafes anything is possible. This month, the VR Cafes are decorated with snowflakes in odd patterns and designs - holograms, naturally - that spin and change shape and color in a timed routine. Plug into the games and you'll find a new selection among the usual offerings: Winter Wonderland.

There are two modes to Winter Wonderland and each are fun in their own ways.

Snow Fight! Head out into the powdery snow where fantastic snow forts await and battle it out with snowballs to claim the most territory or just see who can hit the other side the most. You can choose Team Battle, Solo 1vs1, or Battle Royale. All magic, skills, and cunning are at your disposal. While the snow might not be falling outside, it's definitely going to be raining down on you here, so bundle up and have some fun. You earned it!

Ski Lodge But maybe you don't want to go flinging snow down someone's shirt and would rather cuddle up on a couch in front of a big warm fire, huh? Sure, we understand that. Welcome to the Ski Lodge, a cozy getaway up in the mountains where you can relax with a hot chocolate (or cider, or glass of wine even) and curl up on the couches and experience a lazy afternoon in thick fluffy sweaters. It's even better with a friend, they say, so why not create this private little getaway for the two (or three or four, we're not judging) of you? For people wanting a romantic lean, you can always slip out the back (and out of your clothes if you prefer) into the private jacuzzi on the wooden deck, too.

For people who want to have some fun tearing it up on the mountain-side though, we suggest trying Ski-venture! A year-round game that lets you ski or snowboard your way down the mountain.

❥ PROMPT IV: A Mysterious Gift [REGAIN EVENT]

Toward the end of the month starting from the 20th and on, some people may find themselves drawn to Rawna's temple late at night, when most of the priests are offline or elsewhere. The only native creatures you can see here are the fledgling rainbow dragons which watch you from their various perches all around the sanctum. As you approach the temple's altar, you realize someone else has been drawn here as well. In the quiet, dim lighting, the barest of candles still burning and the watchful eyes of the dragons, you feel compelled to unburden yourself to the other person. Tell your tale of woe or sorrow, relieve yourself of a secret you've kept hidden for too long, and listen to your companion as well. They say a burden shared is a burden halved after all.

Once you've both shared something, a pair of dragonlings crawl up into the altar's clawed hands. They wind around each other until an iridescent light shines from their scales. The light is blinding and you must look away as it reaches its pinnacle and releases a burst of rainbow light. When you look back, the dragonlings are slithering away and in their places are two objects - one familiar to you and one to your partner - so long as both of you have shared. It seems your tithe has been rewarded with something from home.

OOC: These items from home must be approved by a mod. They cannot exceed the Medium Item regain limit. It cannot be a power or other ability. It cannot be something your character did not own or have knowledge of in their canon or their CRAU. Please post your regain request in the Regain Request thread before threading out the receipt of the item.

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This event will run from December 6th to December 31st. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. You are welcome to use this log, or create entries of your own! If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread.

Comments

[meridio]

He was indeed spooky, though perhaps not in that way. His presence wasn’t the most comforting one for others. Having said that, he would now try his hand at this business of being kind.

“You are observant,” he said as he glanced down at their hands, “and learned.”

[pinkmin]

Vianca watched him a little more as it dawned on her what that was. Oh! A compliment, maybe. Be kind, they'd all said.

"I try to be," she said, sounding more happy about this observation than she looked. "You only say exactly what you mean, don't you?"

Which was only a positive thing, coming from her. It hadn't been that long ago that she would have only said what was absolutely necessary to be understood, if she spoke at all.

[meridio]

She spoke without judgment, and so he didn’t take it as such. Curt was he since his prime, though the sincerity of his words was frequently being brought into question these days. This time, he meant them, even if they were based on what little he had been given thus far.

“What do I call you?”

[pinkmin]

"Vianca," she offered. "It is nice to meet you, Somnus."

And it was!

"Were you going somewhere before this?"

[meridio]

Vianca. Though he didn't return the formality, he nodded in acknowledgment—and possibly silent reciprocation—of hers before craning his neck to the side.

"A museum, perhaps. What of you?"

[pinkmin]

A nod was perfectly acceptable.

"Mm, the library." Probaby. She hadn't fully decided, and there was a lot of room to change course between here and there. "I haven't been to the museum yet."

[meridio]

Nor had he. Slowly but surely, he was visiting the parts of the city with which he was unfamiliar. Her destination was one of those places. He gave their joined hands a small tug, urging her on her way; he would follow.

“What books does the library offer?”

[pinkmin]

Vianca had been content with following his lead, so the tiny tug was a small surprise. She blinked once and then nodded again herself. She was more than happy to lead him there, so off they went!

"They are primarily for entertainment," Vianca told him, sounding a touch rueful for it. She did love a good story, and you could still glean a lot from stories but... More, please. "And guides for robot self-repairs and projects. Things like that."

[meridio]

“Nothing on the history of this world, then.”

They were here to heal a dying world, not to entertain themselves. Yet the city seemed determined to draw them toward such temptations. Perhaps the intention was for the so-called saviors to welcome the touch of another in comfort; however, this did little to address the root of the problem.

[pinkmin]

"Not that I have found. I can only conclude those are only in the Archives."

Which was terribly disappointing. It would help to understand where things started to go wrong, for one. For another... she was just really curious.

[meridio]

Studious, this one. Based on what he gleaned the first time he entered the Archives, what she was saying was most likely true.

“What do you know about Aellyn?”

[pinkmin]

"Hm."

Vianca went quiet for a few moments as she thought about it. The information she'd held on to was mostly from what she could glean from around town, and what bits and pieces of the archives other Offworlders had posted on the network.

"It is hard to say how big this world is, when we are in just one city. This part of the world at least appears to have four seasons, despite the fluctuations in weather it is experiencing. Some sort of calamity was happening that drove its citizens to extreme measures to try and re-balance the world. This did not work. It is uncertain how long ago the Change occurred, and how long the planet has been withering."

[meridio]

When she finished speaking, he nodded his acknowledgment and thanks. These answers only raised more questions, but that was to be expected when there was a world's history to uncover. It was important that they understand Aellyn in order to help it to the best of their abilities; however, it was also important not to forget their most basic, core task.

"You offer your hand with ease," he started, "and the gods are healthier for it."

[pinkmin]

Vianca nodded, giving their hands a somewhat childish little swing between them. This was what they were here for, after all.

"I hope so," she said softly. She glanced up at him again, offering a very soft squeeze to his hand. "You accepted it kindly. Not everyone is so willing."

[meridio]

Kindly wasn't the word he would have chosen.

"We were summoned to heal this world through contact." Regardless of any suspicions he harbored about the whole arrangement or what might transpire after the fact, they had this divine duty. She gave his hand a squeeze, and it served as one of many reminders that he was now flesh and blood. "This body exists to serve that purpose."

[pinkmin]

It was a very frank way to look at it, and one that Vianca could understand. The gods had decided she was good enough for this purpose, so they had graced her with this second chance at existence. That meant she had to do her best, didn't it? Vianca nodded.

"Yes. That is true for me too. Still, it is nicer when people do not mind."

[meridio]

It was certainly more convenient.

"So long as we exist together in this world, I am willing. My hand is yours."

As if to prove this, he readjusted his grip on her hand. Vianca's story was hers to keep or tell; even if he were to never hear it, he would receive her palm against his for as long as the world needed their contact.