hugtopia_logs | ♥ December Event Log

♥ December Event Log

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

a pair of hands holding each other with a red ribbon tied around their wrists

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

a wooden lodge at night, blanketed in snow

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ah... [ She's almost afraid to ask if he has any theories himself, as he doesn't enjoy too many questions from her.

Still, she believes he does have something to offer-- he must, because his eyes are intelligent and he's not just any king, but the founder. He must have thought of something himself. ] A-and ..your... thoughts....?

[ She hesitates. As of late, he realizes, she hasn’t been asking very much of him. ]

The world is dying; with it, the gods. I‌ do not believe that they’ll be granting an audience so soon.

[ Yet here they are called to this temple....

In the end, it seems that all they can do is speculate. He had been right to initially say that going there will reveal what this is about. Still, she is glad to have asked.

Quietly, she admits: ]

....I'm glad that we're going together, then. [ Turning her gaze to him, she smiles gently. Her fingers shift to interlace with his. ] Facing the summons of a god sounds easier to do with someone, than alone.

[ He angles his head, eyeing a nondescript space between her smile and their hands. Several steps later, his fingertips come down to rest on her knuckles. ]

So it does.

[ Going together means sharing the weight of what’s to come. For Somnus, the gods will be gods. For someone like Pyra, he wonders if she’s unsettled by the prospect of finding herself in the presence of a holy being who isn’t the Architect. ]

This is but one path to the temple. There may be others.

[ She glances toward their route, feeling his fingers accept the adjustment in their hands. It’s better this way, she thinks.

But she does not know why he’s brought up diverging paths. ]

Oh... Would you rather take the scenic route? [ She won’t mind. This urge to go to the temple isn’t pressing. It would be nice to simply walk with him out and about, for when was the last time they strolled together instead of holding hands within their own home?

Or does he mean he wants to warp there... ]

[‌ He shakes his head once. This route is fine; from their starting point, it’s the quickest way to the temple. ]

It may be just the two of us on this path, but there could be more on others. If so, we are hardly alone.

[ The two of them are not so special as to warrant a private summons. Somnus is certain other followers of Rawna, at the very least, have been struck by a similar impulse. ]

[ ....

After a brief pause Pyra breaks away from his arm, tugging only at his hand, stepping towards a diverging path. ]

Then.... [ Turning back to look at him, she smiles. ] let’s take a different way.

[ Although he doesn't pull away, neither does he take that step to follow. The latter is already bold enough. ]

We make for the same temple. The way does not matter.

[ In the end, they'll all converge on the same location. There's little sense in taking a detour to meet the people who'll be there when they arrive. ]

[ Rawna... if it was urgent, he would have called them with more of that urgency.

She gives him another tug with his hand. Please? ]

But the stars [ Fake or real. ] are all beautiful tonight...

[ And she loves stargazing so. A brief moment passes in silence as he looks up at the sky and back down before he steps after her. Either way, he tells himself, they'll reach the temple. ]

[ With renewed enthusiasm, she takes him by the hand and begins to lead him down the divergent path. This one is smaller path, but less traveled by-- there are no other footprints in the small layer of snow before them, whereas on the direct path and main streets there are multiple.

She leads him, hand in hand-- then, arm in arm-- to another area, still well on their way north. It's less lit, quieter. ] Quickly, before it begins to snow again...

[ She turns to smile at him, as if she's holding back a secret, a surprise. ]

[ She mentions snow and he looks up again, this time to note the increasingly overcast sky. This area may be less lit, but no amount of darkness can illuminate the stars when the clouds blot them—nor is there any trace of people before them on this path.

The secret is plainly writ on her smile and he puzzles over her intention. She's taken them on a slightly longer route, yet she bids him to hurry. What's certain is their destination and her arm looped around his, allowing his body to siphon the heat off of hers as they head north. Quickly, they go. ]

[ They break out of an alleyway and into a small plaza. A fountain, frozen-over in the cold, remains still. She looks up... just in time to see the last dot of light blot out with a bit of cloud. She had wanted them to move quickly to bring him to a dimmer area to see the stars-- but it seems they will have no such luck this night.

It begins to snow.

She sounds somewhat disappointed, but not bothered by this change, either. ]

....Mm.... This is nice, too. [ She leans him to the center of the plaza, eyes still cast upward upon the sky. Don't you think?

[ Is this what she meant to show him? Her words are vague. Nevertheless, he cranes his neck, following her gaze to an indiscernible spot in the sky.

In this world, the cycle of day and night persists. Chroma was much the same. But darkness veils Eos, and he, in spite of all the time he spent drowning in the madness of the Scourge, vividly recalls the thick fogginess that blankets the sky.

The image from that memory is nothing like the sight above them. What falls on their heads and shoulders is not a strange substance akin to soot, but snow. Altogether, the view leaves enough of an impression to still his feet. His answer, though standard for his apathetic demeanor, is thoughtful. ]

So it is.

[ She continues to smile at him, and then stepping out, she reaches for his other hand to bring between them with both of hers. Here, she outstretches his hands, palm upwards. ]

...Look. You can catch them.

[ She, however, cannot.

They melt and fade far too quickly, fragile. She destroys the delicate uniqueness of their lives with a single touch. ]

[ His gaze snaps over to her face, then to their hands when she brings his forward. Snow falls onto his palms, where it lingers for a fleeting moment before melting against his body heat. He can catch them, though only for so long—and that's how it should be with all things in the mortal realm. Somnus curls his fingers into his palm, forming a loose fist.

That's how it should be, and so he'll do whatever is necessary to make it happen. She, too, must understand. He turns his attention to the artificial desire swelling in his heart. ]

The temple calls to us.

[ The beauty of the snow is that of life, especially that of sentient life, unique in its existence throughout the entire universe. At the very least, he can catch those snowflakes without undoing their existence himself; therefore unlike herself, he can be with them, if only for a moment. He can hold them and not harm them, mortal as he is. He has a family.

There is another layer to this metaphor.

The god who had caught him in the palm of his hand may have let entropy take his body, undoubtedly turning it dust just as the snowflakes have turned to water. However unlike that which melts and disappears in his hand, his soul has remained.

Something occurs to her then, a troubling thought-- something that she has done (is currently doing), something hauntingly similar to what his god is doing to him, keeping him. The expression on his face, complex and thoughtful yet steely and resolute enough to call back their attention to their journey... it is good, that he does so much for this world. And yet, and yet-- ]

[ Pyra watches as the last of the snowflakes on his hand fade. When she raises her gaze, she's smiling. ] Mm.

[ Then, taking his hand again, she moves to be beside him. Soon, her arm is linked with his at the elbow. ] ...Have you ever seen the snow like this?

[ It's quiet. Peaceful. It's an illusion, however, because the storm beyond the barrier rages on. ]

[ They're close once more, and Somnus' hands let go of what tension that's gathered in them.

Snow like this—falling from an overcast sky that conceals the undesirable truths beyond—is new to him, though the concept isn't. In the last century, his people enjoyed an illusory peace within the kingdom's Wall. Then the Wall fell, and so, too, did the city. Superficial peace never lasts. ]

I cannot recall the last time I saw snow.

[ Recall... it's a good warning to not pry further into his past. Understanding the hint for what it is, she shifts the subject away from him. The topic of snow itself, however, is innocuous. So: ]

They look as if they're dancing.

[ The best dancers make no sound upon the stage (unless they mean to) with the movement of their feet. They remain graceful, as if hovering over the polished wood. Here, bound by no such floor, the fall of snow is quiet; the world, muted. ] And they spin... together like stars.

[ They don't look so coordinated to Somnus. The fall of snow is erratic, much like the unpredictable twists and turns that life takes. A single life leaves no impact on the world; as one, however, those lives have the power to blanket the earth and make their marks.

To Pyra, they dance and spin. He knows not what she feels about the former, but he knows her to enjoy the stars. As part of the very nature she adores, that makes the snowfall worth watching. Thus, he volunteers no comment to detract from the experience while they make their way to the temple, though the occasional turn of his head indicates that he's listening. ]

There is a pattern to how they fall... [ She tells him this as they walk, continuing in a respectful tone. ] Intricate, fine, but... [ But they all obey the laws of nature-- what the gods have created, written into the world as finely as a spider's web. This is how her own world works, at least. This is how she-- before she had been a she, before the schism, when together they had all been one-- had created them, the physics and forces that govern the natural universe.

Empty space is an illusion. There are strong forces, weak forces, and everything between all. When there is no boundary between wave and particle, everything feels connected. ]

Mm. A pattern. [ She repeats. ] The same forces that govern how they fall, or... how we may fall, should we slip on this snow [ This, said whimsically, just in case this bit of the conversation is too heavy. ] apply to the stars themselves and how... they may collapse, too.

[ She pauses then, sparing him a glance. Anything to say about being equal with stars? ]

Edited 2019-12-16 01:22 (UTC)

[ Humans, at least those of her world, were born from the particles of deceased stars. That's what she told him in Chroma. Then it isn't strange for them to be compared to stars, though it makes him wonder—if he was created in the image of the Astrals, what was used to craft that image?

His gaze wanders, taking in the sight of the city before them and the snow falling within. It's easy to imagine how everything down below could be equal. Stars, on the other hand, are so far away. And then above . . . compared to that, perhaps even the stars are below. ]

Only the gods stand above those forces.

[ Actually.

That earns her a curious head tilt. ] Because they wrote those forces into existence....? Or they exist beyond reality...?

There are different worlds and gods we hear of, but, ah, maybe they are not all created in the same manner. [ For instance...! And this, she says with a smile, because she fascinated and impressed by the mechanic— ] I’ve heard of one world in which the gods are born of people’s hearts and desires. I imagine those gods are subject to... [ The laws into which they were born. Fate. Providence. Whatever one calls it. ]

Can you just imagine the mind of the creator-god of a world like... that. [ ~~Baka oniichan Ontos didn’t make a world like that when he fucked off bleeehhh~~ ] Where wishes make gods.

[ Thanks for nothing, Ontos. ]

The workings of the gods' minds are beyond mortal comprehension. I cannot imagine them, even if they are born from the wishes of people.

[ Furthermore, no wish comes without a price. He stops his train of thought there. He doesn't know anything about that world, and it won't serve him any to wonder. ]

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