♥ 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

i

[scourgingstars]

[He'd been doing his best to avoid exactly this situation; warped away from a few priests, even shadowstepped clear out of existence a time or two. But this time he'd let his guard down for just a moment, hand linked to Cor's in red ribbon up to their wrists.]

[Ardyn himself had gone very still and very quiet, mind racing as he tried to evaluate whether dissolving into shadow in front of someone would be worth escape at the cost of being seen as human.]

[flawed_immortality]

[He hadn't meant to be such a distraction to Ardyn. Being jumped like this has him drawing kotetsu instinctively from the armiger, only to sigh and dismiss it immediately once he realizes what they're doing.

Feeling how unnaturally still Ardyn had gone, though, Cor turns his wrist a little, curls his fingers around Ardyn's hand and offers a gentle squeeze.]

Let's see if we can't get untangled, okay?

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn made a quiet sound of acknowledgement, not quite forming anything resembling a full sentence yet. He managed that and a slight nod, hand barely daring to move.]

[flawed_immortality]

[For a brief moment's hesitation Cor simply watches the other man, brow furrowing, concern etched in his features.]

Ardyn...

[Gentle, coaxing him back to the here and now. As he speaks though he leans down to look more closely at their wrists, feeling for the ends of the sash so he can try to work it free.]

[scourgingstars]

I'm...fine.

[His voice was strained, Ardyn quickly looking anywhere except directly at Cor.]

[flawed_immortality]

You don't need to be.

[Ardyn you can't force yourself to be okay if you're not.

And it seems Cor can't force these knots to come apart either.]

Do you have a dagger?

[Even kikuichimonji is too large for this.]

[scourgingstars]

Just...just Rakshasa.

[Which was about five feet longer than a dagger.]

Did they...say something before they left?

[flawed_immortality]

[They could always contact Ignis, his daggers would be a far better size for ensuring they didn't harm themselves trying to...

Ah. They had, hadn't they?

Cor frowns for a moment, standing straight again and thinking back to the rush of words.]

Be... kind to unwind?

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn just shook his head slightly in response, looking around in faint confusion. What in the hell was that supposed to mean, and how could he get out of this immediately?]

[flawed_immortality]

Kindness... but to whom?

[Clearly it couldn't be as simple as each other.

Could it?]

At least that much should not be difficult for you. I daresay you're the kindest individual I've ever had the honor of knowing.

[Okay that was a little formal but no less true. ]

[scourgingstars]

Wh...what?

[That caught Ardyn off guard, so much so that he barely noticed the ribbon loosening.]

That's hardly-...you and the others have been far kinder than I deserve, surely I've done nothing worthwhile.

[flawed_immortality]

That's not true.

[Ardyn might be too startled to notice but Cor releases his hand, twists his wrist just slightly, enough to demonstrate that they have room enough to move.]

.... and it's also rather effective it seems.

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn still didn't quite look at Cor, his own hand fidgeting restlessly as much as he could given the situation.]

...of course it would be something like that, considering this place.

[flawed_immortality]

It could be worse?

[They could be demanding more extensive physical affection than what Ardyn might be comfortable with. Compliments are not that difficult.]

You're clever enough to know that we may as well get this over with quickly. It'll be more comfortable for you.

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn swallowed hard even as the sash loosened a bit more, still looking just about anywhere else.]

I'm...sorry. For troubling you this way.

[flawed_immortality]

Ardyn...

[Cor frowns, shifting so he can face the other man now that there's room enough in their bindings for it, reaching up to set his other hand on Ardyn's arm.]

You've done nothing to apologize for. This is simply the native's idea of holiday cheer it seems.

[scourgingstars]

[He didn’t quite flinch at the touch like he did for a time after his arrival, but was still notably tense under Cor’s hand.]

...right. It’s...it’s nothing.

[flawed_immortality]

[He frowns slightly, knowing damn well that Ardyn isn't being honest. What's more he's doing a terrible job of hiding it, if that's even what he's trying to do. But even that small, reassuring touch to his arm is enough to loosen the sash around their wrists a little further.]

You do not need to hide from me, my friend.

[scourgingstars]

I'm not-...forgive me, I don't think that I am...quite my usual self right now.

[He gave a nervous, halfhearted tug on the sash, hoping it would either give or just vanish entirely so they could forget this ever happened.]

[flawed_immortality]

[Cor nods, slowly, letting his hand rub gently at Ardyn's arm. He curls their fingers together once more, trying to help Ardyn feel more of the affection of being beside someone who cares than the restraint of the sash.

The sash that is gradually growing looser. Compliments are not the only form of kindness, even just the calming intent of small touches, the attempt to help Ardyn feel more comfortable, is a kindness of it's own.]

That's alright, you don't need to be.

[scourgingstars]

[It looked like Ardyn essentially gave up at that, leaning against Cor with his face hidden against his shoulder. He knew perfectly well the scars on his hands hadn't changed a bit, but gods if they didn't feel much more prominent right about now.]

[flawed_immortality]

It's okay...

[Ardyn leans into him and Cor curls an arm around him, humming a soft reassuring breath out, letting his hand drift in soothing circles across Ardyn's back.]

No one is going to hurt you. I won't allow it.

[scourgingstars]

...I changed my mind.

[He wrapped his free arm loosely around Cor's, wither unwilling or lacking the energy to cling any more tightly.]

I don't...want to go back. I know I've said I would rather have never left, but I don't...want to, any longer.

[flawed_immortality]

[That admission is both a huge step and also heartbreaking in it's misery.

Cor does his best to offer Ardyn the comfort he needs, a steady presence when he must be feeling so uncertain.]

I am glad. [That he's able to want something for himself like that.] And you have our full support, whatever happens. We will find a way to make sure you are safe and, dare I say, even happy?

[Perhaps if he believes it hard enough they can get Ardyn to come around to the idea too.]

[scourgingstars]

Happiness seems a bit out of reach for me still.

[Ardyn took a deep breath, trying to compose himself.]

...You're not like other soldiers at all. I was afraid of you at first, but you're...different. Kind and considerate, and able to listen to reason besides.