festivals and mur--ahem, investigations 🎊🔍

[beleos]

COMMUNION WITH YIMA

After given some time for recovery and for Yima to hear reports of what transpired at the Tree of Life last month, a Communion message gently flows through the minds of each Shard-Bearer. They will have to choose to accept this message, and once they do, they will be greeted by Yima’s voice resonating pleasantly in their heads. She first apologizes for their harrowing experience with the Dryad, and that she hadn’t anticipated such a violent reaction from the Tree; she believes that their experiences point to an imbalance within the Tree itself, most likely brought about by the soon-to-come arrival of the Oracles.

She has spoken with Cyrus, and they have jointly decided that an investigation into the matter - and potentially the destruction of the Dryad - may be required to purge its influence from the Tree. Yima requests that any who would willingly seek out the Dryad volunteer to do so and will be outfitted with a ward against any tampering to prevent them from falling into the creature’s clutches a second time. It will take her a bit to fashion enough of these wards - but she anticipates being ready toward the end of the month.

She concludes her message with another heartfelt apology for your suffering, that she would not have sent any into such a situation she believed were truly dangerous. That being said, she takes responsibility for your ordeal and asks that if there is anything she can do in recompense, you have but to ask.

Yima will be available for Communion chatter here!

FESTIVAL OF REMEMBRANCE - HIGHSTORM

Takiltu is a month cycle the natives of Kenos regard with some amount of reverence and a hearty helping of excitement: the first part of the month (November) is spent reflecting on and celebrating the differing cultures and worlds each Kenosian represents. The second part of the month (December) is spent celebrating unity and togetherness, to come together with friends and family, to be kind to others and share in one’s wealth - whether that comes in the form of knowledge, monetary gains, or the exchange of gifts and one’s time.

Each city celebrates differently, the flavor of their festivals a reflection of their people.

In Highstorm, the first thirty days of Takiltu are spent in Remembrance. The city is decorated with string lights, paper lanterns, candles, and torches to illuminate the streets in beautiful colors and shimmering magical illusory shapes. The focal point of the festival takes place in The Court, where the reflecting pool has been especially decorated with arrangements of flowers and lights. Festival stands erected around the Courtyard peddle paper lanterns as well as refreshments, fanciful decorative items, and enchanted jewelry that is said to make one’s recollections of the past temporarily clearer.

The pool itself is the main attraction, here; citizens who approach its waters and gaze into its depths will find its normal abilities to reflect memories enhanced. The images are surreal for their clarity, vivid - and normally, one is requested to look into the eyes of those most precious to them whose souls remain lost, to pay homage to their memory and sacrifices, and to wish them rebirth in the new world to come. A purchased lantern is then lit and sent skyward where it floats into the moonlight, joining the others hovering above.

But this year, there is an addition to the usual fanfare. Emet-Selch has been asked to assist with the festival; as long as he is given permission, he can recreate the memory displayed in the reflecting pool. Yima has granted him a temporary blessing which enhances his natural creation abilities - a gift for their people she is grateful for. Your character can choose what it is they see in the water - whether it’s a place, a person, or the feelings of a certain point and time, he will temporarily recreate it around you. Everyone will be able to see this conjuring and interact with it while it is functional. It will last between 15 to 30 minutes before dissolving into beads of light that slowly trickle skyward before disappearing. You’ll be told to light a lantern, send it adrift, and that this will give peace to the part of you and your Shard that surely aches. But does it…?

Elsewhere in Highstorm, the High Theater has been painstakingly decorated and aglow with magical floating motes of light; the interior has been transformed into something of an Art Gallery. The pieces within are dedications to parts of worlds long gone, as well as the people in them; some are beautifully painted landscapes of exquisite, far-away places beyond the imagination. Some are more mundane and familiar snapshots of life in a home world not too different from your own. There are portraits of families, loved ones, and those the Zenites long for most. This is their time to mourn, to grieve, and to appreciate their pasts - the pasts that will lead them to a brighter future, one day. They must move on into the future, but treasuring that which came before is equally important to them.

Should you touch any of the motes of light that are around the art pieces decorating the Gallery, you will find yourself able to feel, hear, see, and taste a piece of the world the piece represents. Some of these are warm gatherings over a dinner table with family; others are heart-wrenching expressions of loss and bitterness and pain. Be cautious which you choose. Oh, and do be careful not to stand too closely with someone else when you touch one, or one accidentally touches you - the experience is absolutely contagious through Communion.

CELEBRATION OF CHERISHMENT - SPRINGSTAR

While Highstorm’s Festival of Remembrance is a more demure and reflective time, Springstar takes a much different approach to the season. In true Meri nature, the Celebration of Cherishment encapsulates celebrating life in all forms - and that means parties! The Psychagogía is the main hub of excitement considering, but festivities can be found in almost every single district of Springstar. Wherever you go, something is happening and someone is trying to rope you into having a good time.

The city has been decorated with bright and colorful multi-purpose magical ivy-like vines that sprouts buds that bloom over the course of the month into gorgeous flowers. These flowers are considered sacred, and their blooming is a momentous time of joy and good fortune. Each flower is left intact; disturbing one is tantamount to a war crime by the natives, so don’t get observed if you try to pluck one!

The Psychagogía is incredibly lively, teeming with people and events; almost every venue is peddling some kind of ‘Cherishment’ celebratory sale or discount. The first portion of the month includes what the locals call “the meri-ment” (and seem quite chuffed about that pun), in which Kenosians are encouraged to go bar hopping and taste the wide variety of specialty ales and liquor unkegged only around this time of year. Participants are highly encouraged to share stories of their worlds and cultures, to tell those they mingle with tales of the worlds they will one day return to and why they’re special, unique - to celebrate their one-day return.

Alongside this comes a great deal of outdoor grilling, fresh meats and vegetables sending tantalizing scents everywhere you go once the evening hours arrive. Some of these food and drinks can cause… interesting… effects if you consume them in excess, especially at the Emotional Damage - so try to show restraint. It would be a bit embarrassing to find yourself strangely infatuated with the first person you lay eyes on after your fifth night out on the town, or feeling compelled to express warm feelings aloud you wouldn’t normally commit to another. Luckily, it only lasts a short period of time - but beware the wicked hangover afterward. Strangely enough, if you’re suffering, you feel oddly compelled to seek out a little TLC from someone else - someone with whom you might have some unresolved feelings toward, positive or negative. Is it longing? Anger? Jealousy? Unspoken affections? Love? Whatever it is, you're more likely to seek them out for some care.

At the Coliseum, nightly brawls between Meris take place and the usual assortment of monsters are temporarily taken out of offer. This part of the festivities is one where each Kenosian is encouraged to settle any differences or misgivings with others and to get it out of their system, cleansing them of bad mojo - “leave it in the ring,” as it were. Despite beating each other bloody at times, most combatants willingly stop before it gets too serious and fighting to the death is not permitted. You must embrace your adversary before you leave, and your ‘bad blood’ will be considered purged and settled so you can start anew.

The Empório district is celebrating consumerism, because of course it is! All the usual goods are on a considerable discount, and for a brief time, gardening tools and supplies are free! The reason for this is that Springstar’s citizens are encouraged to plant one seedling in the gardens in Katoikitikós once the flowers lining the city have gone into full bloom. It is said this honors gods across cultures and time as well as invites good fortune. You are encouraged to plant a seedling in a group or pairing, as space is limited - and there are superstitions regarding this togetherness resulting in more favorable results. Should you plant a seedling with someone else, you might indeed find that something is beginning to blossom between you… Based on your Aspects, you might find yourselves feeling closer and more connected - or repulsed depending on your compatibility. This effect will last through the month after planting. Should you check on the seedling later, its health will be reflected in the state of your relationship. Friends will find the little plant thriving; enemies will find it is sickly and dying.

For those Shard-Bearers who have already harmonized with the Meridian or who have quarters in Heliopolis, you will find the communal meals much more lavish and indulgent than usual. There may even be a taste of home waiting for you among the spreads on offer, or some comfort food you haven’t had in a while. It is encouraged to share anything to your taste - or even to share why it is meaningful to you via Communion. Or you can just eat. You do you, man.

Once the flowers have bloomed and the festivities reach their peak, one might find the city loud and boisterous and sleep a little more difficult to come by. Springstar is absolutely thriving and alive - and you, too, feel more invigorated and energetic despite any lack of zzz’s. Should you leave the city, however, this effect will vanish and you might find yourself unnaturally fatigued and in need of more rest than is customary. Returning to Springstar will slowly build up your stamina again. This effect lasts until the end of the month.

THE MYSTERY OF ALENROUX

Once celebrations are in full-swing in the cities, some characters (i.e., any characters that choose to participate in this prompt) will be contacted by Cyrus or Yima, depending on their faction or whichever they feel a stronger inclination towards if they are currently Unharmonized. Both will explain that there’s something that they’d like you to investigate, but also to prepare and be careful, since this request doesn’t come without danger… A Shard has been lost in Alenroux, and they both hope you’ll be able to retrieve it.

MERIDIAN

“I’ve gotten word that a Zenith Shard-Bearer was sent to Alenroux a little bit before you arrived, and they haven’t come back yet. Normally, none of our business, but based on what some of the farmers have been saying, I think they’ve gotten hit by Discord. If it gets high enough, well… You don’t really have your mind anymore. We can help them through Purification. Even if it’s just for long enough to calm them down, it’s better than them being trapped in madness. It might be easier to dissipate them first, though, then Purify their Shard. They were last seen heading to the Northern forests. Let me know what I can give you to help, and make sure to help each other. Good luck.”

ZENITH

"Please heed my request, though I do not ask this of you lightly... One of the Zenith's children has been lost among the fields of Alenroux come nightfall and I fear the worst has befallen them. There are dangerous elements attracted to the presence of a soul, and the likelihood our brethren has been lost... it is great. Seek out the Shard - and if you are able to retrieve it, please do so. If it has suffered corruption too great to be saved or would place you in too great a danger to take back, then... I trust you to make the merciful choice. I place this in your hands and will give you whatever you require to see it through. Look out for your fellow Zenith and work together, as I do not want to lose more of you. Be well."

Both factions will offer their recruits access to standard weaponry and armor/protective clothing. If a character asks for more, they’ll be given a weapon or a piece of armor with minor magical properties which would normally cost 1 AC token to purchase. Magical weapons are on loan however. If your character takes these and/or chooses to keep it, please note this in your Committed Actions! If they choose to keep standard weaponry, Cyrus/Yima will just be disappointed in your dishonesty. :(

When you arrive during the day cycle, you’ll also find horses and magic hoverboards to use (they go the same speed tbh), because heading North to the forests is a bit of a trek, and you might not make it there in time on foot! As the sun starts to set, you’ll see the people in Alenroux start to leave, going clearly your opposite direction. Once night falls (Nov. 9th OOC), it doesn’t take long for things to change.

There’s just a sliver of a crescent moon in the sky, which makes the rolling hills and forests much more ominous than they were during the day. And as the stories say, it only takes an hour or two before you start to run into strange creatures. Closer to the Cornerstone, there are indeed strange creatures, and while they may not all look scary, they might present different kinds of dangers such as…

• A light in the dark looks like a fairy, but stare at it too long and you’ll find yourself hypnotized by a ghastly fish will lead you to a body of water to drown you.
• An innocuous puddle may form up into a mass of corrosive goo, complete with the bones and items of the last person it came across. When you slice it, it simply creates a copy of itself, so hopefully you realize this before you’re surrounded.
• A strange straw poppet (sans pins, of course) that possesses you once you touch it and will use your body to try and fight anyone else while your consciousness is trapped inside the doll. To be freed, you only have to destroy the doll, but you’ll feel the pain of how its destroyed even if you don’t bear any injuries from it.

However, as you get closer to the Northern forests, they become significantly more fearsome…

• With a roar, a massive, multiheaded beast descends, and each of its mouths is perfectly capable of taking a bite out of you. Watch out for the snake’s head in particular, since its venom will cause you to hallucinate your worst fears.
• As you come face to face with an odd creature, bioluminescence lights up on its skin, and the spins on its back quiver with a sound like a rattlesnake’s. As the spines quiver, you find it exceptionally difficult to take your eyes off them and move as it stalks closer slowly. You can fight blind, right?
• Diving in and out of larger shadows like its water is a slimy beast that’s incredibly fast. Its teeth may be small, but its tail is a razor-sharp whip that could remove a limb if you’re not careful.

These are just examples, however. There are many creatures lurking the wilds of Alenroux, so feel free to create your own monsters with unique effects.

It's a difficult trek North, and you may be tired from hours of running, fighting, or both… But eventually, a few people do find what they were looking for. They might have even missed it, if not for how their Shards suddenly felt like they were burning. From the shadows, a twisted creature of roots and lights which what looks like many crystals in a glowing mass appears and one of its eyes locks on you. It looks like now is your chance.

NOTES

Weather summary for the first 30 days of Takiltu (NOV & DEC):

Highstorm is in late fall, early winter season. Some flurries may occasionally fall and it is getting considerably cold out there! Bundle up!

Springstar is in the throes of early summer; the weather is climate and pleasantly warm for outdoor celebrations (but not sweltering). There are occasional afternoon showers, but they don’t last very long.

Notable city changes:

If you wander the Markets in Highstorm, you might notice some of the peddlers seem a bit wary of you. Hm, guess something happened around here! Probably totally unrelated, but Silco and Vander (or anyone with them) will be treated with nervous suspicion.

Similarly, if you're traveling with Set (or you're Set) in Springstar, you might occasionally find yourself getting strange looks. Ask Set why.

Faction updates:

There are no explicit changes in faction behavior at this time. This will be a staple in all future event write-ups to catalogue the fluidity of the conflict as it progresses, though, so we're including it here for posterity!

Event Notes:

The Reflecting Pool in the Courts of Highstorm can be observed normally with no addtional effects or can bring your memory to vivid life thanks to the help of Emet-Selch (and Yima). If you grant him permission (which can be handwaved), he will breathe life into whichever memory you have chosen to view! If this includes any NPC’s or interactive elements, you will be responsible for playing them out in any tags until they disappear. Please see Emet’s toplevel for any interactions you’d like to thread out with him as a part of this.

For the Gallery in Highstorm, the art depicted in and scenes experienced through the pieces are up to you to create! Feel free to go wild with any associated NPC's in the scene and worldbuild as you see fit. Highstorm holds a variety of citizens from across the multiverse, so you could feasibly go fantastical places, or experience something distinctly profound and beyond your imagination...

The drinks and refreshments in Springstar can be enchanted in just about any way you’d like, including bringing upon minor physical changes of the cute, fun, and flirty variety! Feel free to get creative (as long as you get permission from your thread partner), the Meris would also merrily insist growing extra fluffy, scaly, etc bits during the celebration will only help you party harder! 🥳

As reminders for Alenroux, once night falls, a character is not able to leave until sunrise, which is 24 hours later. If your character is dissipated, you can have a PC retrieve their Shard or the respective Faction they're allied with will send out a search party to find it. Remember to report character deaths!

CODING

Comments

04

[exhound]

[The forest is more unsettling than Vander had first expected it to be. He’s always known not to put too much stock in rumors of monsters and other things that go bump in the night, but he’ll give credit where it’s due here—the island is certainly living up to its reputation as a sprawling field of danger once the sun set.

He’s already turning as the sound of a chase thunders against the earth behind him. There’s barely time to register precisely why the voice calling out sounds familiar to him before a centaur with an unmistakable long mane of hair comes barreling out of the brush and into the clearing he had stopped to catch his bearing in to answer that question for him.

Her warning is heeded with zero hesitation. Vander takes a step back, squares up into a waiting posture, fists clad in an enormous pair of rough-looking gauntlets poised to brace for an attack. The thing that bursts into the clearing after the woman stumbles in its chase as her arrow finds its mark. The thing flinches at the arrow sprouting from its neck, scrambles to keep its momentum going but finds instead the sting of iron ready to halt it in its tracks. Vander pulls one fist back and strikes the creature with a bone-crunching hit to one shoulder as it tries to stumble past him after its original quarry.]

Eyes on me, you big lug.

[He steps back quickly, gauntlets raised, feet surprisingly spry for a man of his size. Over his shoulder he calls—]

I’ll keep its attention so you can get another clean shot.

[warmare]

[Hayame had thought the people of this world craven. How could it be that there were so many of them, enough to raise army upon army, and yet still they claimed that the island of Alenroux was uninhabitable at night, and they fled from it as the sun set. She could not understand how it were possible, not when unlike Horos this world was full of “shard bearers”, that so many had weapons and magic and “powers”…

But she had been wrong. It was not cowardice that kept the people from Alenroux. The island rejected life, it was truly accursed, and if they were to survive the night—

She does not question who it is that she has suddenly become partner to. The brief sight of a man she recognizes from Highstorm is but a single thing to notice when she must also track the beast, the roots, the-

The shocking clash of monster against metal gauntlet, wielded in a way and with such power she would not have anticipated.

But there’s no time for that, either. With only a brief noise that must be agreement… Hayame’s hooves dig into the dirt before she’s off again, the open clearing providing better room for her to draw the six-foot bow in her hand back to its full potential before another arrow goes flying at a twisted, bony mimicry of a chest.]

[exhound]

[Vander’s been in too many fights over his life to count, most when he was young and had the fires of righteous anger burning within his chest, yet even so he barely feels prepared for what awaited them all on this island when darkness set upon it. As monstrous as the Enforcers had been in their actions, they were still men—and fighting them was a much easier task than facing off against the real thing.

There’s no time to let that rattle him, though. He takes her wordless agreement and the beat of her hooves on the soil as encouragement, but keeps his eyes squarely on the bony monstrosity before him. Those teeth and claws are fearsome and he knows better to say within their reach for long. So he keeps his feet moving, one step away from its reach.

He clangs his gauntlets against one another, the ring of metal on metal a simple lure to keep the thing’s attention squarely on him. It rears up in anger to attack, the jilted, blocky movements making it a guessing game on how to time his dodge—but the timely thud of an arrow finding purchase on its chest throws it off.

Vander seizes the opening it provides and pushes forward with two quick swings to throw it off balance, the second of which comes up at an angle to the spot where the arrow protrudes from its bony chest. If this thing feels pain, it is sure to hurt.]

[warmare]

[Her enemies were supposed to be flesh and blood. No matter how men in their cups or frightened little children traded stories of demons and sorcery, it wasn't supposed to be real. But in Horos, Hayame had learned the horrors that magic could produce from people who were supposed to only have muscle and metal to fight with. On Alenroux... She has learned how sick a shape a living thing could take. -- Was it even living? So much of it seems to be bone, like something robbed from a grave and stitched over a bear...

A bear? that roars in pain and rage as an arrow slots through chinks in its "armor", as something strong pummels at the embedded point, as it tries to reach out and envelop the closer target in its great arms to squeeze.

If it were like a bear... When hunting such beasts, the skulls were far too thick. But the eyes-

Hayame digs her hooves into the earth at a safer distance and twists back around from her firing pass, dug legs splayed as she braces in position and pulls another arrow from her quiver. She squints as she notches it, aims, sweat tracing down the side of her face and soaking into the stained bandage over the hole where her left eye had been. Eyes were small targets. Her depth perception has been altered by her loss, and has yet to be something fully mastered. But if she aimed slightly more to the light than her brain told her would be accurate, if she waited for the right moment-

The next arrow bounces off the beast's brow.]

[exhound]

[The thing about being a fighter of Vander’s size is that you naturally have to spend most of your time fighting folks smaller than you. It’s what he’s used to, the swings and footwork required of that kind of fight he could practically do in his sleep. Any foe that rival’s his own size, though? That always takes a moment—and hopefully only a quick one, if he’s on his game—to adjust to.

He’s been doing an admirable job of it against this bony monstrosity thus far, though that’s largely owed to the thing’s attention being divided between two targets. Attacks landing from two sources, the ire in its eerie gaze swinging back and forth across the clearing with each hit. He’s doing his job of keeping it from giving chase after the centaur woman, and when her next arrow plinks off of the curved bone atop its face, it doesn’t even seem to register it.

Once the beast is fully honed in on him, though, he realizes his moves are a little off. It comes to a head when it steps easily within his guard quicker than he expects and lands a glancing blow against his forearm with a sweep of its claws. He hisses from the sudden jolt of pain, raises his other arm up to try to hold it back from snapping at his face with its unnervingly exposed jaws.]

[warmare]

[There is no time to fail, and yet she is failing. Hayame grits her teeth, but determination is not what she lacks. It is vision, pure and simple, the sight she had relied on all her life now altered by loss. It had taken her time to get a bow back in her hand, she has not had as much time as she would want to to acclimate, and now-

There is still no time.

The man with the gauntlets is pressed, the beast roars, and Hayame draws back her string once more, sighting longer despite the risk to the other who she has to rely on to keep the beast distracted. Farther to the left than before. Further down than before. She holds the arrow in place, inhales sharp-

And this time, the arrow that flies through the air does so true, straight through an eye and into what lies behind it.]

[exhound]

[Vander is used to feeling in control during a fight, no matter how harrowing. The flow of every movement easy to track and keep in focus, thoughts whirling to anticipate the next move of his opponent. Turns out, some of that carefully honed concentration goes right out the window when it’s a big, ugly beast snapping right at your face.

The thing is big and ferocious, and it takes every ounce of effort to keep it steady and prevent it from doing more than grazing him with his claws. It feels like an eternity before he hears the whiz of an arrow zipping through the air past his own head to strike its target.

With an agonized roar the beast rears back, writhing from the sudden jolt of such a precise and severe wound. It gives Vander the breathing room he needs to square up and pull a gauntleted fist back, following up with a swing that takes advantage of its sudden lack of balance and quickens its descent to the ground.

Does that thing even have anything left in it to get back up? He doesn’t know, but he keeps his gaze locked on it for the time being and calls over his shoulder, impressed:]

Great shot right there.

[warmare]

[With the long shaft of her arrow lodged in its brain and her sudden teammate’s fist to the jaw, the beast topples to the ground with a screech… and thankfully for the both of them, it stays there. It still seems to be twitching, bony extremities occasionally jerking… but that’s probably more to fo with the arrowhead embedded in its soft parts than anything else.

Hayame reaches for the knife at her “waist” to finish the thing off, just in case, but… Right. She had lost her blade in Horos. She had no money, nor alligience to get it, in Kenos.

Displeased with that, but swallowing it down, she takes stock instead, her lower lungs heaving and sweat gathered on her flanks. A great shot?]

Eventually.

[She cannot accept his compliment. Not when she had missed first, had barely managed to find the right way to compensate for her halved sight in the chaos. And he had been the one holding it off in the meantime…]

Are you injured?

[Obviously, but… beyond what she can just see, she means.]

[exhound]

[The forest feels eerily quiet in the wake of the beast’s defeat. No more of the din of battle or its grotesque roars, just their heavy breathing and the occasional twitch of the thing’s limbs.

He doesn’t particularly like the sight of that. Gives it a kick against a bone-plated side as a test, but it doesn’t stir. Still, he takes a few steps back regardless, glad to put some distance between it and himself after that fight.

His attention turns toward her then, casting her an appraising glance. Eventually or no, she still had hit quite the mark. Landing a precise blow on an armored foe like that takes quite the skill, and he can appreciate that. Especially as it had probably saved his hide in the end.

Speaking of, her question prompts him to take stock of the wounds he had received. Some scratches marring his arms mostly, but he’s otherwise in one piece. So he shrugs.]

A little scratched up, but I’ve dealt with worse. [He dips his head toward her.] How about you? That thing didn’t get a swing in while it was giving chase, did it?

[warmare]

[... Some distance seems wise. She hates that it may appear as a miniature retreat, but she isn't about to crack a hoof trying to kick the thing's skull in just to be safe. Instead, she answers automatically,]

No.

[... But she actually said it before she even finished turning her head to look, and when she actually finishes the motion... there is blood on her dun rump, her hide twitching where it was rent open in thin lines by grasping claws. Thankfully for her, the wounds are shallow, and adrenaline has dulled the pain... but it creeps in upon actually seeing it.]

... Slightly.

[A correction.]