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

[The quiet is rather abruptly shattered by the slamming of the front door, followed by swift footfalls travelling from the entrance to the twins' shared bedroom. Another open door, a slight pause, and then that one, too, smacks shut.

The silence resumes.]

[ Ah. That breaks the chalk mid-diagram, as her door is pushed all the way open moments later by Kova, the cat not allowing that silence to continue as he stares up at her and and meows loudly. Yes, cat, she hears you.

Someone slamming themselves into their room means that they probably want a bit of time to have a breather before getting involved with anyone else. Or answering any questions.

Either way, she could resume her work, idle as it was until she heard a door again, or ... do something else entirely. No one else was home. A ping would likely draw them back but maybe that wasn't required right now. And yet she grasps for a thought and whirls...

... right into the kitchen. It's not her domain, it feels quite wrong to be in here on her own when there is only so much she's grasped by watching either Taako or Lup in the midst of their preparations, but the least she could do was try to prepare some baking trays and bowls for whenever Lup was ready to emerge.

... Because of course it was Lup. Her tells were a lot different from Taako's, even if they seemed rarer. ]

[Her tells are different, yes... and her coping mechanisms, too. Lup is not typically the misery chef- she's done her share of stress-baking, but she does it to cheer herself up, not to wallow in that anger the way Taako does, slamming pots and bullying dough. The kitchen is her refuge more than her punching bag. Today? She needs a punching bag. Or just a nap. Or just to not be seen in this state as long as she can help it. Last time she felt like this she'd gotten absolutely piss-drunk, but that's not a luxury she has here, or is it a problem she wishes to inflict on anyone else.

She pointedly does not come out of her room, not in a timely manner at least.]

[This was true. Lup needed her time to cool her heels, space to get herself together before she lashed out in ways she would not wish to.

And it is so that Honerva gives Lup time as she sets things up, and waits a little more. Even if a ping meant well, it might still be... obtrusive, at this time. She'd give her a little longer before doing that.

This of course, still left her alone in the kitchen and rather restless for being there, for none of this was her domain and did she even know any baking recipes? No, but she had to consider, that perhaps if everything had a measurement, logic was a tool here, baking might be a science, if she -- if... she did not simply give up and put everything away, because what was she even trying to accomplish? ... Stupid.

But if Lup needed that time, then what else could she do? Besides be driven to action by her own concern. That was what brought her in here in the first place, those replicators had all the ingredients, if she could but think of the requirements. Flour? Eggs? Those seemed to be staples. Mentally she tries to bring together those rare times she had been present while either twin was cooking, how she had seen the counter set up for their various... stress cookie baking.

... Sugar? Perhaps that was also a necessity. What else, then ...]

... Do not give me that look, Kova. I am not being impatient.

[But if she could... figure out what she was going to do and hopefully have it all squared away before ... worst case scenario Taako arrived back first and questioned why she was even there, that would be fantastic.]

[There's just something calm and consoling about a good rage-nap and a cat cuddle. Soothes the nerves, calms the bristles, and by the time Lup quietly emerges from her room, she is refreshed and looking as if nothing at all happened. She wanders into the kitchen, leaning against the frame and lifting a brow at... whatever the hell Honerva is up to by the time she's come by. Ditto is draped around her neck like a tea towel, legs hanging on either side.]

...What in the nine fresh fantasy hells are you doing in here?

[ While Lup's been sleeping, Honerva had been...

Perhaps having gotten a little carried away wouldn't be calling it too lightly. Her chalkboard is propped up nearby and it is covered in ... all sorts of approximations of recipes as she pretty much works on trying to backwards engineer something viable from scratch. She's not certain when the project got to this point, only that when she was looking at the eggs and the flour and then having to deal with breaking the eggs she decided to just ... try and come up with something else all together.

There's already some set aside discards, plenty of mistakes, some results that did not come out right at all, too hard and not at all flavorful. All the same, it is a form of experimenting, even if she knows so little about what she's really dealing with.

But this last batch, the one she has ready to go, here, floating on the tray while she sorts out the oven timers, she's almost proud of this one, even it's also not quite right. It felt tricky, probably -- different. The ingredients were definitely a little different, using apples in the dough as a binding agent instead of dealing with the messy eggs, more natural sweetening instead of relying on sugar.

The counter-top is looking a little wild, though. Perhaps about right for what was essentially a science project for someone out of their element. And she looks up at Lup, when she finally appears, feeling as though for the moment she's been caught somewhere she ought not to be, because she usually never was, her ears moving very slightly as she takes in Lup's appearance and her demeanor. She seems calmer. Perhaps the time was all she had needed, then; perhaps there was no reason to ... jump to all of this. ]

... Waiting for you to join me, of course.

[ Except... well, waiting hadn't quite happened in the usual way. ]

[Lup is momentarily taken aback, looking at the bits and bobs of a baking afternoon strewn across the countertops, which is certainly unusual for Honerva. It smells nice enough, though. After the moment passes she steps further in, peering down at... well, all of it.]

If you needed something you could've come to get me.

[For once, she honestly has no idea what to make of what's happening here.]

I know. This wasn't about what I needed.

[ She gently directs the tray into the oven, and closes the door, time set, before looking back at Lup. Except that expression on Lup's face... had she transgressed, in this? Certainly she was out of place, in their kitchen. ]

You just seemed as though you needed time, and I had... hoped to have a distraction ready, before I checked on you.

You're definitely successful on that point.

[The distraction, that is. She snorts a breath, wandering over to the chalkboard. That... sure is a lot of recipe experimentation.]

Which one did you settle on?

[ It sure is a wild board of recipe ideas at first glance, but there is a visible journey there, though it traverses the board. The narrowing down of logical changes to make, since in the end it was relatable to science and that was something that she could understand. Even if she were less experienced with matters of flavor and taste.

She floats a piece of chalk up and draws a box around her currently-tried batch. It seems ...relatively straightforward, and includes cinnamon and applesauce in the mixture, with chocolate chips added. ]

That is the most recent attempt. Although... I admit that narrowing the concepts of time and needed temperature for this is... more illusive than managing the mixture itself.

[ Which is evidenced in some of the failures, as well as the ones that did not hold together well enough, as discomfiting as it might be to have those on display. ]

Huh...

[She studies the recipe for a long moment, taking in the details, then reaches out and plucks the floating chalk from the air, crossing over a few of the ingredients and writing in small adjustments, like a teacher correcting a student in class.]

It's a good start. I like the apple idea, but for the size of the recipe, you're using too much and it's likely to clump together. It's better to be more approximate in your measurements with this kind of ingredient- you can tell it's enough by the feel of the dough.

... By how it feels?

[ Her eyes follow over Lup's corrections, taking note of the adjustments. On the one hand, it was good to know that she was somewhat on the right track, but where some aspects had been narrowed through trial and error, she was certainly lacking in the areas that made all parts of a recipe really come together.

Or perhaps. She did not truly know how the dough was meant to feel, or how to balance ingredients meaningfully. ]

Yep. It's not as crucial as pastry, cookie dough is pretty forgiving, but that doesn't mean you can slack off on it.

[She adds a (?) to one of the measurements on a spice in the recipe, then gives it a tap.]

A major part of baking is experience. You make that same thing over and over, and every time you do it a little bit differently. Eventually you'll hit that sweet spot, and that is the recipe you stick with... but even then, there's variations.

[She draws a circle around the apple.]

Take this for example. It's all well and good for the recipe to call for "a cup of apple". But what kind of apple is it? Is it chopped, mashed, or dried? How strong is the flavour? A recipe in the hands of a good cook should always be a guideline, not a rulebook.

... It seems I have far more practice to work through before my product even reaches an oven.

[ Which was entirely expected, though it all sounds a lot more complex than she had been prepared for, even by just experimenting like this. She liked the aspect of fine-tuning, though, even if it was nuance that evaded her here, of handling and even understanding the food to begin with, her definite lack of experience being evident. That was why she had gone with apples, because they seemed like an easy enough to understand fruit to work with, and yet here Lup was demonstrating different possibilities even with that option. ]

I admit most of my cues were from watching you both work and... trying to create my own version that seemed compatible. Perhaps it was not the best method.

I wouldn't say it's a bad method either, though. New dishes are created through experimentation- that's pretty much right up your alley. Rather than religiously following a recipe, it's a good match.

[Honestly, she never considered teaching Honerva how to cook. Her lack of interest in food in general made her assume it wasn't going to resonate well enough, and with the twins, there's no point in bothering with someone who lacks the passion for it. It would only annoy them.]

Well, let's see how it ends up when it's baked, I guess.

[ It would annoy them, and likely the person they would be trying to show too, so perhaps it was better that it had happened this way. While a healthy appreciation of food was still not Honerva's strong suit, this at least was a sincere attempt of her own making that needed fine tuning and frankly, she had surprised herself with it. ]

We shall see, then.

[ Though she has not forgotten the true reason that led to it in the first place. With the recipe adjustments made, they can possibly... shift the discussion as well. ]

... Distraction or not... perhaps there are other things we might discuss.

Edited 2019-12-23 21:34 (UTC)

Hm? Yeah, sure.

[She sounds as casual as she can manage, but there's an edge of caution in her tone, the sort that would only be recognizable to people who've known her long enough to catch it. She isn't a fan of how vague that is, but the idea of specifics makes her just as wary. She isn't sure how long Honerva's been here.]

[ She can recognize that caution. All she had intended was to present to her an opening, if she wished it, not to ... press.

It was harder to word such things, when one was unaccustomed to... a gentler sort of inquiry. She amends her words.]

We need not discuss it if you do not wish to, of course, but... I was home when you returned.

[ Because she might as well clear that up, even if she hadn't gone to her directly and had instead gone on ahead to make a mess in the kitchen. But she hadn't meant to wait indefinitely. ]

Are you... okay?

[Ah.

That.

It's not unexpected, really. There'd been a chance that someone would be home, and while she'd dreaded Taako, the most likely suspect would be Honerva- she's home the most. Lup considers her answer for a long moment, then shrugs. What's the point? It's just old memories. Old ghosts for the old ghost to carry. Poetic in a sense.

She's still so angry, but she's over it at the same time. Is that even possible? Not the first time her life's been a walking contradiction.]

Sometimes I just hate this place, I guess. [She'd wanted to go home. To the umbrella, yes, to the apocalypse, yes, but to her family, to a land ready to be saved, to what might eventually become a happy ending. To her future. Instead she's here again, on a new world, trying to solve someone else's problems. And they have the nerve to tie her up in their culture and pretend it's supposed to help. Like it doesn't seize up her heart and get her pulse racing, like it didn't shove her face-first into the memories of black curtains twisted around her soul, binding her in a lifeless place for years, like it doesn't make her want to scream and set the whole world on fire-

...Okay, maybe not so over it, after all.]

I'm okay, [is what she finishes with, finally, and it isn't true but she's willing it to be so. That's the rule in this house. She's the one who has to be okay; everyone else is too fragile, and she can't handle the shatter. It's not like this is anything new, anyway.]

[ Honerva has heard Lup use the word, okay, for long enough now to know that it was a word with varying layers for as succinct it was.

Okay was a promise, okay was meant to end further discussion of potentially damaging things. Okay was agreement, to smooth things over, okay was passable, okay was for the moment, okay was a bandage.

And in this moment she knew, Lup needed that bandage. Whatever she had encountered to anger her, she was still here, as herself. She had kept herself together through whatever she had encountered but it did not mean she was alone to do so. That she should be pushed so much only to move on as though it were normal, as though it were satisfactory when it was not. And yet.

Okay. It meant she should not push further with inquiry, even if the word did not ring true from all the other ways Lup would say it.

But there is something else that Lup does, that she has learned to do, and this, perhaps, she can offer to her instead. She inclines her head, and then, reaches out a hand toward her. ]

... Lup. Come here.

...Hm?

[Lup hesitates, brief and reluctant, as if accepting whatever Honerva is offering would be acknowledging a weakness and she's not prepared to go there now. She's fine! She said she's okay! She's over it. Whatever.

But she won't be called a hypocrite, either, and Honerva reaching out first is something she knows that she ought to always encourage. So with a tired exhale, she shifts closer and lets her fingers curl around the other woman's hand. Yeah, she's here, she gets it.]

[ Honerva remembers the first time Lup asked for her hand, to really take it.

Like a lifeline. Something that she could offer, when words failed to do anything. Even if Lup needed to be strong now, one was not strong by ignoring their weaknesses.

And the fact that she would chance even seeming vulnerable after brushing it all off, just said more for her strength.

Honerva doesn't press the issue. There was no need, not when Lup was not willing to talk about her problems, or was just not ready. But the least she could do was be here, at least until the timer on that oven beeped at them.

Even if they wanted to spite this world for taking them away from their plans, she would not forsake being able to give to Lup in this way. And so, after a moment passes, she speaks again, her tone as mild as she can manage:]

... So, how much time do you think I have before Taako comes home to clean all of this up?

[Lup snorts at that, lips quirking in amusement.]

Don't think for a second that Taako is going to clean anything. As one might say: you bake it, you bought it.

[Is that how it goes? It is in this kitchen.]

I know better.

[ After all, she had experienced the way he had prodded her into setting the table back there on the First Breath; there was certainly no expectation on her part that he would attend to this. No, it had only been a statement made to draw amusement.

She gives Lup's fingers a little squeeze. ]

One more attempt, then?

Are you trying to rope me into the mess so I'll help you clean instead?

[Devious. Lup can't help a smirk.]

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