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 hesitates a few moments before he follows Will inside, wanting to give the younger man some space if he needs it. But eventually he steps inside the temple, the door's closing loud in the empty space. One of the dragons moves up a column to peer at him from the darkness and he offers the little one his arm as a perch.

Apparently he makes an acceptable climbing perch because it's quick to cling to his jacket, watching Will attentively from Cor's shoulder.]

Have I ever mentioned how similar Rawna is to one of our own gods?

[There's no way anyone could sneak in here, is there? The doors are a loud enough announcement, but even Cor's footsteps echo crisply against gleaming marble. Will isn't surprised to find himself with company, but even so, his smile lags just a moment behind as he turns to face Cor and his new friend.]

I don't think so. What are they like?

[There really isn't. And in the lighting near the altar there's little room to hide either. Cor frowns at the weight to Will's smile. A level of falseness he hasn't seen before. There's usually enough honest happiness there to hide such a thing.

But it is a somber night, one that he would not expect Will to smile through if he did not feel it. Cor stops beside the younger man, reaching up to cradle the side of his face, thumb brushing lightly at the corner of his lips, a small gesture to reassure that he didn't have to put on airs for him.]

Bahamut, the Draconian, unbending as iron.

He's the one who orchestrated the fall of our world... Rawna, at least, seems a little less actively hostile.

[Words that the little dragon seems to find offensive as it slithers down his arm to perch on the altar instead, watching them curiously.]

[Will nuzzles affectionately into the touch, smile softening just a little. Even on a night like this, when it's hard to remember how he's supposed to smile..... How can Cor fail to make him feel at least a little better?]

Why would a good orchestrate the downfall of their own world.....?

It will also kill off the disease that's been ravaging our planet.

What do the gods care for the lives of a few million humans?

[The fact that Will leans into his touch so readily makes him smile a little, regardless of the somber topic. ]

But..... isn't it his disease to begin with? Isn't that how he's destroying the world?

[He just..... he doesn't understand. Even a disease like this Starscourge, as much a curse as it is an illness..... it shouldn't matter to a god so callous and inscrutable. He's destroying an entire planet, wiping out every trace of life on it. It sounds like he's the entire cause of this disease to begin with--like it's the tool to spread his devastation. So why is he concerned with getting rid of it? Even if he does regret his choices and want to reverse what he's done, can't he just snap his claws and will it away, with the same divine power he presumably willed it into existence with?]

In a way... more a side effect of the astral war. Which boils down to Ifrit getting jealous of the affection Shiva showed us mortals. He decided to destroy us... and Bahamut didn't like him acting out of line. The clash of magic ripped our world apart in ways that are still apparent millennia later.

[He sighs heavily, sliding an arm around Will as though the contact might help him make sense of Bahamut's callousness.]

The Scourge is just one more of those affects.

If he's just trying to keep the peace, then..... isn't it Ifrit trying to orchestrate the world's downfall, not Bahamut?

[He understands the idea of a catastrophic magical battle wreaking havoc on reality. If the harmony of the elements is disturbed, he's sure there would be devastation on a similar scale. But trying to prevent an insane god from destroying the world should be a good thing, even if it had unintended consequences, right? When does Bahamut trying to ruin everything come into play?]

Ifrit was angry, jealous... Bahamut didn't care that he was doing something violent he cared that he wasn't obedient.

[Cor's tone is tired, exhausted, really.]

All the Astrals went into a deep sleep following the War... Except Bahamut. Because he just can't leave well enough alone. He had to make sure the line of Lucis believed Somnus' lies. He had to threaten and control every minute detail of millennia. And keep Ardyn contained, of course.

[It's the kind of long game that is exhausting to mortals to even try to comprehend.]

.....Uh.

[Somnus' lies? As in, the Somnus he'd met in the sick tent? Keep Ardyn contained, as in the Ardyn Cor lives with? Why would they need to keep Ardyn contained? What was Somnus lying about? Why did the only god that stayed awake, one who cared nothing about humanity, need to interfere in mortal affairs like that?

This really is exhausting to try and wrap his head around. Cor can probably just about see this little history (theology?) lesson fly straight over Will's head.]

[Cor sighs softly, exasperated but clearly at the deities that created this mess he was trying to explain, not Will himself. Just to reinforce that he leans down to kiss the younger man softly.]

It's a mess. A mess of the gods' making and Bahamut is chief among them. That's the important part.

[He shakes his head a little, mind drifting back to the idea of all those lies.]

I don't know what's worse... his constant micro-managing of the prophecy or... the times he didn't need to interfere.

[Will kisses back, though distractedly; it's hard to not try and needle at what information he does have, struggling to make sense of it.]

When didn't he need to interfere?

[It's a mess, WIll. Don't try to sort it all out. He'll sit down and lay everything out for you another time if you want. The question makes him frown, gaze darting away, shame clear in his expression.]

When members of the line didn't need... convincing.

Cor..... What happened? Are you okay.....?

[It's a fine distinction between shame and guilt, but a vital one nonetheless; his full attention is immediately dragged back to Cor, and Will hesitantly reaches up to cradle one of Cor's cheeks.]

[He lets out a slow breath, grounding, turning his face to lean into Will's hand.]

I'm sorry. It's not my place to discuss such things about the Crown.

Nobody is here to hear you, Cor. Not Regis, not his father, nobody from Lucis at all. Now, of all times.....

[For once, he can speak freely, to someone with no native ties to Eos at all, and none of the baggage that goes along with them.]

[He's quiet for a long moment, uncertain how to put things into words. Or if he really could. His hand comes up to cover Will's against his face, squeezing gently.]

What Bahamut asked of the line was too much for most. It weighs on a person, that kind of expectation, knowing that your entire lineage is a series of sacrifices.

But there were some that were... cold enough... to not be bothered.

[He can't bring himself to actually say it, to put it in words, but he thinks it so very loudly that there's no way Will could miss it and that's what he's relying on.

Regis' Father, Mors.]

[Cor may as well have spoken out loud, with such a clear, strong projection; even Will's habitual efforts to give people their privacy can't keep from hearing that thought. He nods slowly, unsurprised--there have been..... hints, after all. Mentions of Mors here and there, never anything charitable no matter how tactfully they were phrased.

For the moment, Will doesn't say anything at all. He simply waits instead, silent and expectant, to allow Cor the space to say what he will--however he chooses to say it.]

Perhaps it was a form of self defense, the distance some could maintain from the weight of their legacy.

[Always the benefit of the doubt, never an accusation, never disrespectful.]

It could be difficult... for those around them, I think. Trying to meet the standards of someone who had so much distance from everyone around them.

[Doing everything humanly possible to prove yourself to a King that would never see you as anything more than a tool, especially when he'd been so young, certainly helped form these impossible expectations he holds himself to. The inability to see himself as adequate.]

..... Especially for those closest to them.

[Will can't help a little sigh. It's easy to see the signs, in both Regis and Cor both. That coldness, that distance..... It had hurt them both so much, hadn't it? It had shaped them so deeply, in ways that neither of them would ever admit to.....

Even all the love and warmth in the world can't heal wounds like those after the fact.]

Exactly... even more so when they are the type to use the line's magic to... discourage even a thought of disobedience.

[He shakes his head a little then shifts his stance so he can wrap his arms around his boyfriend. He doesn't even realize he's calling the magic up but there is warmth rolling off of him, thick and possibly uncomfortable for Will but it's the only thing that protects against even the memory of that chill.]

When the cold isn't merely their countenance.

.....

[Will curls into Cor's arms without fuss, reaching up to wind his arms around the man's neck in return. He's always preferred warmth, himself, always had a tendency to get easily chilled. Even so, this..... It's warmer than he would have chosen. He can feel a beads of sweat gathering under his long sleeves and high collar, slowly but surely.

It's worth it, though. No worse than when Arche wants to cuddle in bed in the summer, and..... And he could swear he feels a phantom chill himself in spite of it, licking at his skin and trying to penetrate deeper still, insidious and violating.

It mingles almost seamlessly with the icy rush of anger flooding his veins and tightly gripping his heart. Mors had best be thankful he's already dead; however he might have met his end, Will is of a mind to top it right now.]

[He's grateful for how willing Will is to sink into his arms, to let him hold the younger man as though he can protect him from a ghost he'll never meet. Nors had always let his displeasure be known, not through actions or words but through the sharp, biting chill that seeped into the bones of those around him when things didn't go his way. Especially when his rebellions son was.... well... being rebellious.

For a moment he merely holds Will, clinging to him almost. Then he leans back slightly, bumping his nose lightly against Will's. Not a kiss but an affectionate nuzzle.]

I'm sorry, I've already laid too many burdens upon you, you don't need all of this as well.

[It's harder than it should be, trying to let go of that anger, even when he hasn't been personally wronged. It was hard for that dream Lucii, and it's hard for the mere thought of Mors.

Still..... It's something Cor needs more than he probably would want to admit to, that unfaltering support, that determined happiness. Will makes himself smile, nuzzling in return.]

You don't have anything to apologize for.

[Will tries to swallow down his anger, to smile for him, and Cor watches his face intently. He frowns slowly, fingers reaching up to brush along the line of Will's lips.]

Will... Your smiles are only beautiful when you mean them.

[He uses the touch of his fingers to guide the next kiss, gentle and light, hopeful in a way.]

You don't need to be anything for me but yourself. Even when things are... worse than we'd both like.

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