♥ 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...

---

❥ 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.

---

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 supposed it's better than jail but U KNOW.

[yallstupid]

[Ariados is certainly wary of that fire, instead making a wide arc around as she goes to rejoin her Trainer at his side, appreciating the gentle pat he gives her, nudging against his legs almost like an affectionate cat.]

Yeah, and I wanna try something... Doubt it'll work, but it's worth a shot. But y'all gotta keep real, real still. Y'see, my girl here's got some pretty potent venom, and I'm wondering if she can corrode this thing tying us together. This is, it'll also burn your skin real nasty-like if it gets on you.

[necromanswers]

[Lup shoots first him, then the creature at his side, a skeptical look.]

This how you talk to all the girls?

[Haven't even gotten his name and already offering to burn her with acid. Still, she reeeeaally hates being tied up, so with some reluctance the fire on her hand winks out. For now, at least.]

[yallstupid]

[Ariados, meanwhile, seems elated to see Lup, and is only staying put at Guzma's command, though her abdomen is clearly wiggling, almost as if she were wagging an imaginary tail, and she seems almost to be bouncing a bit on her legs. There's clearly recognition there, and her fangs click together happily in greeting. Seems she's not as, ah...in tune with the nature of being moved from one world to another as Guzma is, and that memories held by people she knows doesn't always translate between them.

Guzma, meanwhile, shoots Lup a one-handed fingergun.]

Bold of you to assume I talk to anyone, if I can avoid it.

[necromanswers]

Hah. Won't make that mistake again then.

[That's... a curious response, but okay, little bug, you do your thing. She crouches down to get a closer look, her bound hand uplifted so it isn't yanking him along with her.]

Someone's excitable... not so scared now, huh?

[yallstupid]

[Almost instantly, the big spider scurries forward to greet Lup, lifting up its two front legs and bumping her leg with its head (being mindful of that big horn). Guzma sighs - this was inevitable, but he'll just play it off as his Pokemon being, well...herself, more or less. Ariados always was the most personable and friendly of his team.]

Yeah, well, none'a my partners too keen 'round people when they're uh...lighting up, yeah? [He motions with his unbound hand toward where Lup's was flaming moments before.] Ariados is friendly though, and she likes people - always has. If it'll make y'all feel more comfortable about, uh... [He points to her fangs--] That. Later. Y'all can give her a pet. She'd love you for it, for dang sure.

[necromanswers]

[...welp... guess she's petting a spider now. The distraction is... at least less anxiety-inducing, so she reaches out to give the creature a light pat on the head.]

Ariados, is it? Nice to meet you, then. And how about you, my dude? Got a name?

[yallstupid]

[And by god, is that spider happy to be pet. She makes a happy clicking noise with her fangs, bobbing up and down excitedly before Guzma calls her back, since they..uh, well. They still have to at least attempt his idea. He's almost sure it won't work - this sort of shit never does, but hell, his Pokemon got a pet out of it. That's a small victory in and of itself.]

It's Guzma. Now, try n' pull your hand far away from mine and I'll do the same, give my girl here enough room to try n' nip it with her fangs. be

[necromanswers]

Yeah, sure.

[She shifts her body and stretches the sash as much as she can get away with, giving the spider creature some room to bite down. She'd put up a front a moment ago, but honestly if it got her out of this damned knot she'd let it bite up to the bone. Words cannot describe how much she haaaaates this.

(Anyway, skin can heal.)]

Do your worst, little buddy.

[yallstupid]

[And do her worst she does. With careful precision, as instructed by her Trainer, Ariados scoots forward and tilts her head a bit, sinking her fangs into the fabric of the sash and trying desperately to either cut or coat them in her venom. There's a bit of wetness there, but it doesn't last, and neither does it seem to have the desired effect of corroding the fabric in any regard. She tries to actually pull, biting down and tugging, but again...nothing.

Tuckered out and a bit forsaken, Ariados sinks on all of her legs, drooping her head sadly. She couldn't do it... ;n;]

Hey, it's okay, baby girl...you did your best, yeah? Good job. [Guzma will console his poor Pokemon, giving her an affectionate pat. Aw, honey.] But, uh...that's my bright idea. Sorry, but your boy's just a one-spark bulb of ideas and I done burnt out.

[necromanswers]

[Lup watches the spider work, pursing her lips and feeling her anxiety spike more with each failed attempt. When it becomes evident that it isn't going to work, she huffs a sigh and straightens up.]

Whatever... thanks for trying, anyway. It's never that easy around here.

[yallstupid]

Yeah, 'spected as much...but thought to give it a try anyway. [He recalls his Pokemon back its ball, the beam of red light sucking it back into the metalic sphere with a shween and a click.] This sorta bullcrap magic ain't easy to get...rid of...?

[He scrunches up his face curiously, those dark brows pressing together as he tugs on the cord a little bit. Did it get looser? Humming thoughtfully, Guzma presses his lips together then shoves two fingers in between where the ribbon is tied to his wrist. Trying to instert a third is no-go, but...that definite wasn't possible a few minutes ago.]

'Be kind to unwind', huh? Pretty vague...but if risking my skin - for real - to get outta this mess is kindness, then what the heck ever, man, I'll take it.

[necromanswers]

Uh. Yeah, sure. whatever.

[She shifts uncomfortably, tugging at the sash; now that the hope of it being immediately removed is gone, she's back to thinking about it being there, which is absolutely not ideal. It's hard to wrap her head around the idea of being kind when all she wants is to set the world on fire right now.]

Wait, did that count? [She joins him in the tugging. It does feel a bit different...]

[yallstupid]

I mean...yo, I can put two fingers between this garbage now, so I guess so? Helping people's like...charity, yeah? Charity is kindness, so like.

[SHRUG?? He doesn't know how this shit works, he's just making the world's biggest assumption right now, but the cord does feel looser. Let's try something out here, and if he has to go full ham on this - bad puns included - so help him Arceus, he's gonna.]

Le'see here...hm. [FINGERGUNS.] Girl, your hands are more lit than a Charizard's tail.

[necromanswers]

...I have no idea what the hell that means, but it sounds badass, so: probably correct.

[It takes her a second, but she does offer him a tentative smile in return.]

I dig your aesthetic. Good colour scheme, and you're all decked out with some nice swag. You a gangster or something?

[yallstupid]

Big fire-breathing lizard with a flame on the end of its tail that signifies its lifeforce, basically. Think, like, dragon but smaller... [He holds up a hand to about his shoulder. Guzma is staggering at about 6'3" and the average Charizard is only 5'7" - one would reach about shoulder height on him...ish.] They're among the most popular starter Pokemon - that's a tamable monster from where I'm from - that kids pick out. Never been a huge fan m'self, though. It'd suit you pretty well, actually.

[But before he has a chance to think on that, Lup's tossing around compliments his way, and he snorts loudly, curbing the laughter that bubbles up in his chest. It's weird that people appreciate his...anything, really. He's not used to this in any respect.] Eh...I guess so? I mean, heck knows I was a while back. Not so much these days, but that don't mean I'm some goody-goody by any definition, eugh. What about you, homegirl, what's your deal with them flame hands?

[He knew Lup, a tiny bit, but never well. This is a good chance to kind of figure her out, and it's nice. It's also a good distraction. Her discomfort earlier was easy to see, and he Gets It.]

[necromanswers]

Mm, these? [She raises her hands, though they don't catch fire again, and she shrugs her shoulders. The lift reminds her of the sash though, so she glances aside with a sardonic smile.]

I'm a little bit dragon myself.

[Not completely a lie- she has been known to Polymorph.]

[yallstupid]

[The sash certainly does feel looser, if only a little. The slack between their joined wrists is starting to increase with each good word said, or good action done, to the other. It's a slow process, but anything to take poor Lup's mind off of this is loads better than dealing with her angry. Guzma too, actually, but he's been through these sorts of asinine pranks before, so he's more desensitized. Knowing who she is as well helps loads. Anyone else and he probably would have broken their arm.]

Hah, yeah I could see that. Though, maybe...mm, a fighting type'd work nicely, too. Y'all was ready to punch out them robots, and I respect that. Oh, right--dunno if'n I got y'all's name, homegirl. [AS IF HE DIDN'T KNOW.]

[necromanswers]

Right, I do have one of those don't I. It's Lup. I'd say it's nice to meet you, but...

[Maybe if the circumstances were better it would sound more sincere. As it is she's just holding on to her calm.]

[yallstupid]

Guzma--oh, right.

[A brief inspection of the sash does indeed show it's starting to give more and more with every kind word said, though sadly not enough for Guzma to squeeze his hand out of the constricting material, though it does get farther than the last time he tried!] Tch...almost there. Jeez, what else? Uh...

[Gosh but he's not good at compliments and stuff. Especially when he's not too familiar with poor Lup or her brother. He just saw them at their stupid "elf camp" back home to pick up the kid they looked after, since he more or less adopted her into his large, dysfuction (and now multi-verse) family of misfit and/or unwanted kids. Because that's just how he do.] So you're like...magic? Like a witch or something? How does that stuff work?

[necromanswers]

[Her lips quirk. Poor guy, kind of befuddled, isn't he.]

Close! I'm a wizard. No broomstick, but better hats.

[Not that she usually wears one.]

Can't say I know much about Pokemon, though I've seen a few around. You're a beast tamer, basically?

[yallstupid]

Pretty much, yeah. [In the most basic of terms, that's pretty on the nose. His Pokemon do fight for him, and he takes care of and raises them to get stronger in return, catering to their very specific needs.] Though not all'a us Trainers just fight. Some breed 'em, others compete in Contests to show how glam their partners are, and others compete professionally.

[He's on the latter end of that. Most times Guzma just battles casually, but he excels in the competitive scene, and is really darn good at strategizing. Though this is all old hat to him, so he's not too fussed to go into detail. He's much more interested in this Wizardy stuff.]

Though you... I gotta say, y'all is a far cry from what I'd expect of a wizard. Y'all actually got, like...game. [LUP HAS SWAG, IT'S TRUE. And he's not ashamed to say it to her face.]

[necromanswers]

Hah, is that so? And how many wizards have you met before?

[Though it's true, none really come close to the kind of style she and Taako have. She will absolutely accept the compliment, though- especially since that sash is getting looser. She can almost slip her arm free...!]

[yallstupid]

I'll be honest, not a lot... Two? Maybe three? [Was Muffet a wizard? She could use magic, but she was also a spider, and he's not really well to do regarding magic in any respect. World altering Pokemon abilities and powers, sure, but magic? Nah, fam, that shit's cray-cray.] Each way cooler'n what books n' stuff say y'all is like.

Fiction is not kind to you, gotta say. But glad there's some what proving them nerdy writers wrong.

[necromanswers]

Eh, can't blame fiction for that. Most of the wizards I've seen in my life have been crusty old farts who sit in their libraries researching old tomes like "Twelve Mystical Arcane Uses for an Enchanted Buttscratcher". They're overpaid and overrated.

[yallstupid]

[At that, Guzma laughs, loud and sudden, like a bark. Honestly, he knows a few people that are...like that. The library in Malie City is nice and all, but it gets dull after a while, and Guzma doesn't have the patience to read a book from cover to cover in one sitting. Let alone at all, most days.]

Yeah, well what about you, huh? What can you do other'n them Spicy Jazz hands?