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

He's gonna have plenty to turn in to leftovers by the time the packages finish arriving! He doesn't know that yet but still! He wants! To share!!

And 'hell yeah' appears to be the proper response here, if the way that serious edge is cut off to give way to a more lighthearted mood is any indication. "Yeah?" As if Kai was going to say no or something?? "If you're not busy, we can get started right away, then...!"

Kai grinned as Shinji opened up and some of that excitement came peeking through. That was endearing as heck!

"Yeah! What could be more important than curry time?" Kai asked, amused. Nothing. Nothing was more important than curry time.

"Just tell me what to do!"

Even the barest grasp of normalcy, in this case food that hasn't been squeezed out of a replicator, is worth getting at least a little excited about, even for someone like Shinji. Giving Kai culinary pointers had been enjoyable enough on its own, but getting to work with real ingredients like this feels so much more... practical. Even if it's something that might just be the more rare occurrence at this point. It's. Fine. Don't think about it for too long and it's fine.

"If you can rinse off the vegetables to start with, I'll try and find everything else we'll need." The right pots, pans, knives, all of that good stuff.

"Got it," Kai said, moving to take the box from Shinji's hands. Don't let him question the instruction, rinsing your produce was a good habit to get in to! Fake or otherwise! Very important life lessons.

Besides, getting to rinse them all kind of made this feel like more of the real deal. Pulling the veg and apple out of the box, Kai busied himself at the sink. "Where'd you get your hands on this anyway?"

Time to search out all the right equipment for this particular meal endavor! But that's an easy enough thing to do while making light conversation.

"It was just delivered to me?" Very mysterious for sure, "The robot that brought it said they found it in the temple, and they were sure it was meant for me."

Kai turned that apple in his hands after shaking off some of the water, giving it a brief squint to see if it would tell him the secrets of its origin. A sniff test just revealed that it smelled like the best apple Kai had ever smelled in his life, which probably just meant he hadn't smelled an apple in a long time, which probably meant this was pretty real. Probably. Huh. He set it aside.

"That's kinda weird," he said. Such a mystery. "Have you been in a curry mood or somethin'?"

To be fair, who wasn't always in a curry mood?

"I don't... think so? Not in particular, anyway."

It is weird, but there's only so much weirdness he's willing to dwell on in the face of a delicious meal made with real ingredients. "I might have been." Do the robots know better than he does?? Okay, no, definitely not going to dwell on that for too long. Just gonna set out everything he's found on the counter.

Kai wasn't really suspecting the robots. If the robots had fresh food to dole out, why not... dole it out? That would have bee extra suspicious.

"Huh. Ha, maybe Rawna's saying thank you for trying to give his kids some snacks." Like a fruit basket! But with meat and curry roux.

"You probably would have gotten something like this first, if that's the case."

He wouldn't have even thought of the snack handouts if it weren't for Kai, after all! But, he's a little less interested in figuring out the 'why's of this right now, since it all seems like harmless, potentially delicious food - he'd rather just make the meal, and possibly ruminate on the reasoning later. If he thought about it for long enough, it would be really silly to be suspicious of the robots, anyway.

"The meat needs to be cooked first, and the vegetables will be next after that, so they'll all need to be cut up."

Kai just shrugged. Little did he suspect that he might have already gotten his divine babysitting tip after quietly lamenting to a baby dargon about the state of his roots. Oh how his ever golden locks sparkle now, with nary a drop of bleach to be seen. So soft.

"Got it," he said, content to focus on Tasty Food Time. So they were gonna need a cutting board and stuff. "Its like cubes, right? Everything in cubes?"

So soft, so golden, perfect for pats and pets.

Cutting board and knife are prime and ready to be used, thanks to Shinji's efforts! "Cubes works. The vegetables don't need to be too precise as long as they're all about the same size."

"Cool, cool."

He's gonna grab that meat. He's gonna chop that meat like a teenage boy that doesn't chop a lot of meat would chop meat: messily. These cubes............ are big. Let him just. Cut those in half.

This whole process

takes

a while.

But hey maybe everything else is ready on Shinji's end? "Should I bring the meat over?"

Taking a while is fine, that gives Shinji enough time to finish setting up pretty much anything else that can be set up right away. And then after that, he waits. And watches. He won't interrupt Kai's sincere efforts if he doesn't ask for that help, and he's patient enough to not rush him.

So

he waits

until the meat chopping is done.

Good job, Kai. You did it. "Yeah, I can start cooking that, if you want to do the vegetables next."

That, uh, took a little while, though, so maybe he shouldn't get the meat started, like, right away if he wants to keep the timing of everything nice and tight.

You won't hurt his feelings if you tell him to step it up a little, Shinji. Here's your meat though, straight from one beef delivery boy. "Mmhmm~"

The vegetables, at least, didn't take quite as long over all. They just had to... stop rolling, first. Once he could get them to sit still, they offered far less resistance than the meat did so it was! Much easier!

"Hey Shinji, do these gotta go in any kinda order?" He asked, all the while perilously close to knicking his fingers And the potatoes.

Thank you very much for the meat service.

Shinji watches Kai work for a moment or two, just to figure out about how long it'll take him, and make sure he has a handle on the cutting, before moving to get that beef on the heat! Let's sizzle!

"Hm, the onion should come first, but the others can go in at the same time," he answers, glancing back to Kai's side of things. "Do you want some help...?"

Please don't hurt yourself...!!

Oh. Hm. Well, he'll finish this peril potato and then he could grab that onion.

"I think I'm okay?" You're gonna have to be more specific about what part looks like it needs help. Chop Chop Chop.

Time For Onion. Chop Chop--

Time... Time for the Big Sniffle. Oh no. Oh god.

As long as Kai hasn't directly hurt himself or found himself struggling too badly, Shinji will return to tending to the meat. Perhaps while keeping a sharper ear out for any signs of difficulty coming from the cutting board.

Something like... sniffles?

"Hm?" Oh. Oh no. It's easy enough to put two and two together - this isn't something dire! Just onions! But still! "It's okay if you need to step back for a minute."

"It's fine," he said.

Crying.

He chopped the onion. He brought Shinji. The onion. Still crying.

Oh no... he hates this. He knows it's just onions but he still can't shake the thought of how much he hates seeing Kai all teary-eyed.

"Thank you," for the onions. not the tears. "If you want to sit down for a minute," he's a little more insistent this time, freeing up one hand in order to lightly touch Kai's forearm, "I've still got some time left before I need anything else."

Blinking down at Shinji's hand, he shook his head a little. Kai even tried to offer a reassuring smile, even though it still came out as a bit of a grimace due to the circumstances, patting the back of Shinji's hand with his uncontaminated one.

"It should be okay if I just rinse my face, right?"

Or like, shove his whole face in the sleeve of his other arm like he was doing right now?

"Just make sure you wash your hands first," no point in doing that if you end up getting a bunch of second-hand onion-juice mixed in...!

He's still frowning a little, but offers that arm a small squeeze before withdrawing his hand, allowing Kai the freedom to take care of his teary problem. Please... no more crying. Not when we're just making curry.

"Mm, good plan."

Especially if it helped make Shinji stop making that worried face. It didn't sit well with him. There was nothing to worry about, they were just! Making curry! These were just onion tears. Don't make that Face.

So off to the sink he went to give his hands a vigorous scrub, ridding them of all these dangerous sulfurs. Then his face got the same rough treatment. Get out of here, tears! One very doggo-like shake of his head later, Kai was rubbing his face on his sleeve again and rolling back up to the chopping board.

... You know, let's rinse this too. "So, what happens after we everything in the pan?"

They both know it's just curry! It's just a thing that happens with onions!! But Shinji still doesn't like seeing those tears! Irrational as it may be! So once Kai returns, eyes clear and tears washed away, that Face he was making has been pacified to the point of making its exit. No more tears, no more frowns.

Washing up the cutting board is a good idea, too! So helpful, Kaito. Good Boy.

"We'll get everything cooked up, and then the meat and vegetables need to be stewed for a while until they get tender."

And after that, the roux gets its time to shine...!!

Everything was back to as it should be. Only peaceful cooking times here as Kai re-brandished his knife to give those apples and carrots what for. The only thing that would have made this more peaceful was a good pat for being a Good Boy, but alas.

"Gotcha." So it was just... this? Was this the bulk of the work, here? "That... seems really easy!"

"It's not too complicated, if you know what you're doing."

It's mostly just a matter of getting the practice in the first place, and he can't exactly fault Kai for possibly not having that experience. Not everyone's going to get that kind of instruction, after all... but! Hey! Another nice thing about being kidnapped into roboworld - plenty of time to impart this Wisdom on Kai.

"Do you want me to cut the core out of the apple for you?"

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