♥ December Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

December (Ranir) Event Log
The city of Havenwell is recovering very well thanks to your efforts, offworlders. The hole in the wall is sealed up and, while maybe not looking like new, it certainly looks sturdy and safe. The city itself has removed much of the rubble from the battles you fought, and the people are back to their regularly scheduled lives. They're eternally grateful that you continue to put in the time to rebuild this final bastion of civilization and are pleased to see that you enjoyed their festivals so far. As the weather of Ranir turns colder and the nights longer, some may even see snow dust the cobblestone and paved streets in the morning. The time of Rawna has come and with it...

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❥ PROMPT I: At Least It's Not a Sweater

Normally when a new season belonging to a god rolls around, the temple priests gear up and start with temple festivities. Seeing how this is Rawna's month, however, nothing much of the sort seems to be happening. In fact, it's almost as if Rawna's priests don't even care that their god's season has started. Rawna is, after all, chiefly the god of Apathy, so is it all that surprising?

What might be surprising is the sight of Ainea's priests in pairs out around the city in their stead. Each pair carries with them a single bright silver sash and they alternatively stand in broad daylight or hide in the shadows of the buildings. Walk by on your own and you'll be left alone, but when the priests spot two people walking even remotely near each other, they spring into action.

The two robotic priests zip around you and another person with surprising speed, tying the sash off around you - either around your wrists, your waists, your legs, whatever it takes to tie you to another person. With a triumphant buzz of excitement, they declare "Happy Ranir! Kindness comes in many forms!" and depart to find a new pair of victims patrons. As they leave, one of the pair calls out an additional clue for you: "Be kind to unwind!"

Good luck, everyone, you're now stuck with this other person. You can either wait until the sash naturally falls off in a few hours, or you can take the direction of the priests and be kind to the other person to encourage the magical knot to come undone. Each compliment, word of encouragement, or other act of kindness directed at your new partner seems to loosen the sash a little each time, so get to winning the Niceness War.

Oh, and in case you were thinking of blasting, teleporting, or cutting your way out? No amount of magic or physical force seems capable of cutting or removing the sash. Hopefully you went to the bathroom before they got you.

❥ PROMPT II: A Delicious Delight

After a long hard day of dodging Ainea's priests or just slogging through the colder weather around the city, what could be better than imbibing a seasonally festive drink? Well, the scientists in charge of Experiment 73 certainly think so! They've added a limited edition drink selection to all of the replicators and have some delightfully festive booths spread about the city staffed by a few robots wearing Rawna's colors in their sashes and hats. There are five drinks in total to choose from and you should certainly try them! They're only here until the end of the month and then the scientists say they'll be gone! The best things in life are fleeting, aren't they? The best things in life are also surprises, so when you take a sip of these exquisitely delicious (honest! For once they're good) beverages, prepare yourself for a little trick with your treat.

• Ginger and Honey Tea: A hot, thoroughly warming drink with the bite of ginger and the sweetness of honey. Drink this and you'll be shored up against the cold, but also feel compelled to tell or blurt out the truth. Whether you're asked a question or trying to tell a little white lie, you find you can't say anything but the truth. This effect lasts for up to an hour after drinking the tea.
  
• Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie: A cold sweet treat of vanilla smoothie topped with sweet strawberry pieces and whipped cream. At the bottom, you'll find a layer of sweet sponge cake cut up into pieces. Drink this with its own special thick straw and enjoy the taste of cake; and the effect of a personal miniature snow cloud that appears over your head. The cloud dusts you and your immediate area within a foot of you with beautiful multicolored snow - and that snow leaves splotches of color behind that last for up to an hour after drinking the smoothie.
  
• Hot Cinnamon Apple Cider: A deliciously steamy beverage that tastes of apple and cinnamon and comes with a cinnamon stick stirrer for effect. This beverage smells as delicious as it tastes and the aroma wafts around the area more strongly than the others. Drink this penultimate holiday drink and you'll find yourself heating up so much that you'll want to stay cold by giving your heat away via holding someone else. You'll want to be everyone's personal heater for up to an hour after drinking the cider.
  
• Gingerbread Latte: A nice piping hot latte with the hint of gingerbread threaded through the coffee, topped with whipped cream and dusted with gingerbread spice. Served in a tall red cup that seems to transfer the heat uncannily well through its thin walls, sip this and you'll find yourself painlessly sprouting an animal's appendage at random. You can have one functioning or non-functioning, cosmetic animal appendage like a cat's ears, a dog's tail, a duck's beak or whatever else you can think of for up to an hour after drinking the latte. They can replace your original body part (e.g. your ears become cat ears) or grow superfluously (e.g. you have regular ears AND cat ears). You can move the appendages or talk with them as if they are your own, but they don't confer any special magical powers with them. So you can fly with those griffin wings, sure, but you're going to need to put the effort into it.
  
• Hot Mulled Wine (alcoholic): This one isn't for children - and in fact, under 18 people might find it hard (but not impossible, be industrious, little ones!) to get their hands on this drink. Red wine is heated with spices and citrus fruit over low heat for several hours - or it would if it wasn't all synthetically created. The effect is the same though, a delicious adult beverage that's a nice way to spend an evening with someone special. And you'll want them to be someone special because drinking the hot wine makes you inclined to get a little steamy with people. Kisses, both chaste and passionate, seem to alleviate the urge which you'll be under for up to an hour after drinking the wine.

❥ PROMPT III: Winter (VR) Wonderland

There isn't quite enough snow on the ground to allow it in reality, but in the VR Cafes anything is possible. This month, the VR Cafes are decorated with snowflakes in odd patterns and designs - holograms, naturally - that spin and change shape and color in a timed routine. Plug into the games and you'll find a new selection among the usual offerings: Winter Wonderland.

There are two modes to Winter Wonderland and each are fun in their own ways.

Snow Fight! Head out into the powdery snow where fantastic snow forts await and battle it out with snowballs to claim the most territory or just see who can hit the other side the most. You can choose Team Battle, Solo 1vs1, or Battle Royale. All magic, skills, and cunning are at your disposal. While the snow might not be falling outside, it's definitely going to be raining down on you here, so bundle up and have some fun. You earned it!

Ski Lodge But maybe you don't want to go flinging snow down someone's shirt and would rather cuddle up on a couch in front of a big warm fire, huh? Sure, we understand that. Welcome to the Ski Lodge, a cozy getaway up in the mountains where you can relax with a hot chocolate (or cider, or glass of wine even) and curl up on the couches and experience a lazy afternoon in thick fluffy sweaters. It's even better with a friend, they say, so why not create this private little getaway for the two (or three or four, we're not judging) of you? For people wanting a romantic lean, you can always slip out the back (and out of your clothes if you prefer) into the private jacuzzi on the wooden deck, too.

For people who want to have some fun tearing it up on the mountain-side though, we suggest trying Ski-venture! A year-round game that lets you ski or snowboard your way down the mountain.

❥ PROMPT IV: A Mysterious Gift [REGAIN EVENT]

Toward the end of the month starting from the 20th and on, some people may find themselves drawn to Rawna's temple late at night, when most of the priests are offline or elsewhere. The only native creatures you can see here are the fledgling rainbow dragons which watch you from their various perches all around the sanctum. As you approach the temple's altar, you realize someone else has been drawn here as well. In the quiet, dim lighting, the barest of candles still burning and the watchful eyes of the dragons, you feel compelled to unburden yourself to the other person. Tell your tale of woe or sorrow, relieve yourself of a secret you've kept hidden for too long, and listen to your companion as well. They say a burden shared is a burden halved after all.

Once you've both shared something, a pair of dragonlings crawl up into the altar's clawed hands. They wind around each other until an iridescent light shines from their scales. The light is blinding and you must look away as it reaches its pinnacle and releases a burst of rainbow light. When you look back, the dragonlings are slithering away and in their places are two objects - one familiar to you and one to your partner - so long as both of you have shared. It seems your tithe has been rewarded with something from home.

OOC: These items from home must be approved by a mod. They cannot exceed the Medium Item regain limit. It cannot be a power or other ability. It cannot be something your character did not own or have knowledge of in their canon or their CRAU. Please post your regain request in the Regain Request thread before threading out the receipt of the item.

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This event will run from December 6th to December 31st. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. You are welcome to use this log, or create entries of your own! If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread.

Comments

[original_is_best]

"Do you?"

He was unaware, though he hadn't pried much into Will's personal affairs. Still, he let go of Will.

"Very well." A shame, but he wasn't about to force Will, nor was he going to pretend that he somehow didn't understand what that answer meant. It gave his mind some pause, as for those brief moments he had been considering whether or not he should continue this in the future. But if Will was taken then it was no use wasting his time thinking about it.

That decided, he pushed it from his mind, still slightly heated but mostly gratified after the wine. "I should return to work."

Just like that it was as if he was ready to leave everything that just happened behind. Perhaps there was a hint of something. There often was - he never mentally tried to deny Will's attractiveness to himself, he simply didn't act on it. But towards Will? There was no anger, no betrayal and no bitterness. The only thing there might be the hidden taste of regret, like an aftertaste on the back of the tongue. Somewhere in the back of his mind some fantasies he'd hardly given himself time to visualize were crushed before they were even completely formed.

The only difference now was that he'd allowed himself to think deeper about it than he'd ever had before, which made burying the thoughts again more difficult.

He pushed himself to his feet, dismissing Will with a small wave of his hand. "I shall see you another time."

Because things would go right back to the way they always were before, right?

[twistedempathy]

"I-I'm seeing Cor. Maybe if....." Will trails off, shaking his head.

Maybe if this had happened a few months ago, before he'd committed to anything or anyone..... He thinks he might have said yes. Why wouldn't he? Verstael is..... amazing, to be honest. Handsome, intelligent, confident, candid, driven, passionate, caring..... Almost anyone would be flattered to catch his interest. Except.....

Except that he's not interested. Except that his thoughts and feelings are being influenced right now. He'd felt that internal struggle, the compulsion, the mental haze..... None of this had ever been real to start with. There's no point in saying anything, when this will be over once Verstael has a chance to sleep it off.

The thing about being psychic is that the boundaries fade and the edges blur together. The thing about being psychic is that it's hard, sometimes, to know where other people end and you begin. Or what or who that you is or should be, or if there's even a you to begin with, one that exists apart from the space between everyone else that defines it. The thing about being psychic is that you don't always know what you feel, or what you should feel, or who's feeling it, or even if you really are feeling anything at all.

There's regret here. He assumes it's probably his. So Will smiles and slips out of Verstael's lap, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze before he turns to go. "I'll see you later. Make sure you get some rest, okay?"

[original_is_best]

"The soldier."

That did actually give Verstael some pause. Cor, oddly, was probably his least favorite person. Even moreso than Regis, Niflheim's sworn enemy. Cor was a major reason why he had avoided arming himself, believing that if he did it would be quickly used as an excuse to kill him.

Verstael wasn't one to give relationship advice or even look into other's relationships. That was Will's business, and he had never asked into it nor tried to influence it. He did, however, note that in case he needed to avoid being killed in the future.

Brushing aside his initial surprise, he continued, "I've every intention of getting adequate rest tonight. I still need to save more money, so should you be free tonight I will likely arrive at my residence in the evening."

Because it was normal to follow this up by inviting Will over to sleep with him, right? It had never been abnormal between them before, and he didn't seem to think there should be any reason it would be now.

[twistedempathy]

Yes, the soldier. How did he end up liking two people probably most likely to kill each other in all Havenwell? Clearly he has excellent taste and excellent luck both.

Clearly. That's obviously why his stomach is knotting up at the thought of sleeping together after this. But..... He doesn't want things to change between them, just because of some strange drink. He doesn't want to lose this friendship by making things awkward. Surely it'll all be okay once he has a chance to recover for a few hours. Right?

Will smiles. "Oh, sure. You can let me know later tonight."

[original_is_best]

Verstael nodded, bidding his farewell with a tip of his hand. If Will was taken and uninterested, then it meant that they should simply revert to the way they were previously. Like doing a System Restore.

Truly he could be a naive and innocent man in some respects.

He turned his attention back to other unknowing victims as they lined up to taste the drinks, walking away to do what he usually would and allowing Will to head off.