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

...Perhaps. After all, I have no way of knowing anything that could feasibly lie beyond our own star, much less if life could exist so far removed from it.

[Ardyn had paused in clear confusion before shaking his head slightly--'Midgardsormr' to him was just the name for a species of particularly large giant cobra. But he set that aside, along with any other coincidences or odd similarities as something else caught his attention.]

I do...have one question, if it's no trouble to you. You can..essentially see others' souls, for whatever value of the word one would attributed. Is that correct?

[Honestly, that is for the better, Ardyn, as the matter of the wyrm's brood is a complicated explanation perhaps better left to the expert (Era).

Instead of continuing down that line of thought, a nod.]

The immaterial aether, one might say, which cycles into new life from the old. But 'soul' is the more functional term. What of it?

I was only...wondering, I suppose. If you could tell me...

[gosh this chess board sure is fascinating and not at all an excuse to avoid eye contact]

...If mine were damaged, somehow.

[That's allowable, Ardyn.]

Bearing in mind that I am not the perfect diagnostician... No. It is somewhat obscured, simply by the amount of aether you carry, but the nature of your soul is fine enough. A red shading upon to pink, not unlike your magic.

O-oh. [The answer seemed to surprise him, Ardyn glancing off to the side with a nervous and shaky smile.]

That's...good to hear, actually. All this time I'd assumed it...corroded. Unsalvageable beyond repair, one way or another. It doesn't sound quite so dire, that way.

Your aetheric balance is a ruinous mess, it's true, but that is more the aether of your body, the corporeal, rather than your soul. In someone of our world, I'd frankly expect you to turn to a voidsent at any moment, but your condition seems to be quite stable for what it is. You've not turned in this long, short of some upset I have no reason to think that to change.

No--it's true, anyone else would have turned a long time before things grew this severe. I've had trouble thinking of myself as anything but a daemon--in technical function, I have to admit that I am. But it was the more subtle aspect that truly bothered me; the form of a monster is perhaps something I can learn to live with. Being too far gone in mind and heart would lead to far worse entirely.

[He didn't like what he was by any means, but that...that was better. A compromise, almost. So long as he didn't turn into some cruel and unfeeling monster, the rest could be dealt with little by little. Maybe he could even trust that Noctis and the others could figure out what to do with or about him.]

...I'm sorry for the strange question. You're thoughtful to humor me like this, Hades--I'm fortunate to have you as a friend.

['He likes when people call him by his name', she'd said; implied it would have been good to hear from another. Ardyn certainly hoped that was the case, because gods forbid he end up being more trouble than he was worth in the span of five minutes.]

Edited 2019-12-21 04:50 (UTC)

I can tell you from experience that it is possible to live with any number of far less comfortable forms, at least for a century or two. I'm glad to have no need to be a Lalafell again.

[Though that would be preferable to becoming anything that might be called a daemon, surely.

The sound of his true name forces a hitch in the way he fingers their playing field, a shock just enough that his fingers lose their grip on a pawn, which falls over with the faintest of clatters.]

...It is always strange to hear that name again.

[The comment seems more to himself than anyone else. Expression still unsettled, but in an unnegative way, he rights the piece.]

It is I who is fortunate, for you and others. This place has brought me more companionship than many, many long millennia before.

[...It didn't seem to be an objection outright, which was good enough to settle Ardyn's worry just a bit.]

I'm glad to hear such company hasn't been terrible for you. It has been nowhere near so long for me, but I am incredibly grateful all the same. Back in Niflheim, I never would have imagined being able to meet someone that...could understand whatever I felt, in whatever small measure.

For me it has been... I am always terribly aware of how little certain personalities can mesh. I care for Lahabrea and Elidibus deeply; it pains me to know that never shall I speak to either of them again. But by the same token I could not imagine such a casual interaction with them as this, simply wasting an afternoon in common interest.

[To love someone without liking them, and also to be grieving them. At least Lahabrea is actually dead; it is even stranger to grieve for Elidibus, now left all alone.

Another piece moves on the board.]

Of course, it is difficult to imagine Lahabrea with an idle afternoon for any interest...

[A sigh.]

Sounds oddly like Verstael in that regard. I can’t deny he is anything but a genius, yet I doubt he has any concept of relaxation as most do. Never mind that I can scarcely tolerate him anymore.

...I didn’t have much choice then. But life seems scarce worthwhile without an idle afternoon or two on occasion.

In some ways, yes; however, from my experience, Lahabrea makes that man appear as emotional as a stone. The passion for knowledge above sense is common, but little else.

[A sip of his drink.]

Personally, I am in agreement. It is rest that restores one's stamina to continue. That applies not only to the body, but to the mind and heart. Times such as these are rest for the last.

I can't say this surprises me; 'twould take little to surpass him in a matter of emotional expression.

[verstael, what the fuck is your damage]

I used to find myself exhausted in body and spirit quite often, truthfully. Moments like these were...unfortunately rare, but valued all the more highly for it.

Twould take a great deal to surpass Lahabrea, the Speaker of Amaurot.

[An amused sort of almost-fondness.]

I have long had to learn to rest my spirit in solitude, with study and things created only for myself. This chance I too relish.

It's been...a long time. Too long.

[For a moment it sounded like Ardyn would leave it at that, neatly moving another piece on the board. But his eyes drifted briefly to the scar on his hand, and he sighed quietly.]

I'm truly envious, in all honesty. If I had to live for so long, I might have liked to see the world grow and change even were I not to be a part of it. That still would have been a far better fate than two thousand years of confinement, gripping tight to what little sanity I have left to me. Our world is...a much different place now, and I wonder if it would seem less foreign were I to have been there for any of it.

It well might. But at the same time...

[He moves another piece on the board, gently knocking over one of Ardyn's as he lays claim to the square.]

...By those same ages that you have not experienced, you have not grown fatigued in the heart. I cannot deny that there is a further disconnect between myself and mortals than there might otherwise be, simply by the virtue of how many of them I have known. At a certain point, the lives of others begin to take on an abstract quality - a point that you have yet to reach, by malms and malms.

[In other words, Ardyn, he envies you a little the ability to see people as people, because people are still full of enough surprises to interest you.]

...I fear my own fatigue of a far different shape, you're correct. Though the world itself is beyond foreign, people in a general sense seem to have changed very little.

[People were tiring in a much different way. Trust, a difficult thing to relearn piece by shattered piece.]

Oftentimes it feels my disconnection lies within; that I scarce remember how to function as myself, or that I've forgotten the 'self' I used to be at all before any of this transpired. Whatever I am now...perhaps that's merely another thing I need learn for myself.

[Ardyn shook his head slightly, capturing a piece in turn in the brief silence that followed.]

...It seems as though my brother has been through those long ages in his own way, as well. I presume he thinks it hasn't changed him at all, or that if it has that such was a necessity of the crown. But I have not forgotten so much that I fail to see the difference carved into him by such centuries as some ethereal spectator.

Is it...strange, that despite everything I think this sentiment is something akin to worry for him?

People in the general sense seem much the same wherever one might go.

[Only Amaurot ever seemed greatly different.

He listens to Ardyn's words quietly, toying with a captured piece.]

It is in such times bereft that the soul shines brightest with its true nature. That you still care for him, I should think, is only the natural extension of who you are.

[Lifting to make a move, his fingers linger overlong on the queen before he slides her across the board.]

The deepest sort of love may twist into hatred, but it does not fade. That yours has not speaks only well of you. I find it not strange at all. I barely know him and yet worry for what I see; I can only imagine how much it must gnaw at you, no matter how much your memories of happier times may have faded.

'Twould be easier to hate him, I think. It's a thought I entertained briefly in Niflheim; to just cast aside what I could and put myself as far from the bloodline as possible. But that was in a situation where he had been dead for millennia, and his spectral existence beyond my reach. Then, it would have been simple. But now, with him alive within arm's reach and with myself having had time enough to calm down a bit...

[Ardyn sighed quietly, making a move of his own as if he barely needed to study the board.]

The whole situation is painful to the last detail. I'm angry, perhaps I can even acknowledge I deserve that, but I don't want to be. I know not if happiness is attainable for either of us, but I would wish him to come as close as we might to the idea.

And yet he remains stubbornly a wall, no? You need not explain that part; I've never seen a person so eager to be free of my tea, and I've entertained many men wondering if it bore their executions in the cup.

[... Admittedly, once in a while, it did. The Sundered were not people, but one did not prolong the suffering of animals more than one must. A gentle death in a cup of tea was for some a fitting end.]

Truthfully, that you can at least acknowledge that you're hurting makes me all the more concerned for him in turn.

Really.

[jesus lucian christ on a pogo stick, emet.]

...We were ever different in most regards, this much I remember. And while neither of us were particularly open with our emotions, as we grew older I sometimes felt as though he formed a layer of ice over his own. But this is...different. Worse, to say the least. I don't know how to reach him, or if I would even be truly able were I to bring myself to try.

The most efficient way to run an empire is not to be loved nor feared, it's to use both for their purposes.

[Said completely casually. He's been that a few times.]

He punishes himself. I know not that anyone could convince him to cease, but you stand the best chance save an act of god.

[why is it his fate to get attached to people off the shits for the/an empire]

...I wonder if it wasn't divine intervention that got us into this mess to begin with. If anything's to be done moving forward, it will have to be done by mortals.

[. . .]

By which I mean 'mortals, and also myself.'

[Hey he's not off his shits any more than usual, it's just a very efficient tool that he has some fondness for.]

Those born mortal, perhaps?

[There's a gleam of amusement, there.]

A simpler way of putting it, I think.

♥ December Event Log

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