kaisou | JANUARY EVENT LOG

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JANUARY EVENT LOG

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Kaisou + First Gate
WHEN: The Month of January
WHAT: January Event Log
WARNINGS: Psychological danger, death mention, noots

January Event
Dominant Element: Water
Waning Element: Fire

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After a idyllic holiday season, the full depths of winter has reached Kaisou. Throughout the month, temperatures will remain stubborn in a deep cold. Every few days, snow falls and adds a few more inches to the ever growing snowdrifts.

Winter Carnival: January 9th - 16th

The holidays may be over, but that doesn't mean this is a month without celebration! Over in Blue Fish Lake Park, Kaisou's Annual Winter Carnival is in full swing! Scattered across the snowy park, magnificent ice sculptures have been set up as part of the yearly sculpture competition. The crown jewel of the ice sculptures is an extensive ice castle maze, which visitors are welcomed to venture through. Different games and activities will be found throughout the maze, most of them typical carnival stuff like aiming snowballs at a target or answering trivia questions about snow. The prizes for completing these events range from candy to small toys to winter-themed plushies. Fun for the whole family or a date, really!

The winter carnival is more than just ice sculptures of course. A section of the lake has been set up with holes to do ice fishing, while another section is reserved for any ice skating you want to do with a ice skate rental plate included. The skateboard park has been converted into a spot for snowboarding and cross-country skiing. The park restaurant is serving lots of warm foods and drinks to help stave off the cold. Hot chocolate, funnel cake, fried cheese curds, poutine, mulled ciders, and a whole host of other items. And of course, one of the soccer fields has been converted into a full on battlefield for snowball fights. Build a fort and trench and hunker down, it's gonna be a long war.

However the most famous part of the carnival is the medallion hunt. Every year, the Winter Carnival medallion is hidden somewhere in the city. Traditionally, the person who finds the medallion will be rewarded $10,000 (if a group finds it, the prize is split among the group). With a prize like that, it's no wonder so many people try to find it. However as the festival draws to a close halfway through the month, there's still no sign of the medallion. You'd think with this many people looking, it'd turn up by now. Right?

Penguin Resolve

Remember that question about New Years Resolutions on the network a few days ago? Seems like it was more than just an icebreaker question. Throughout the month whenever you're doing an action related to your resolution, you will be sporadically visited by a group of penguins. If you're keeping to your resolution? This group of penguins will cheer you on, clapping their wings and rewarding you with fresh fish. If you're breaking your resolution, the penguins will be quite displeased and begin to throw snowballs at you until you apologize or try to amend your behavior. Didn't make a resolution? Don't think you'll get off easy. The penguins will then act as your lifecoach and try to push you into doing what THEY think you need to do to improve your life. Go run some laps, call your mother more, catch some fish -- it's a new year so it's time for a new you!

When the penguins are satisfied with your progress, they will waddle on to find the next person to check on. Any attempts to harm the penguins will magically fail, and likely result in more snowballs being thrown at you.

Helheim: The Frozen Hell

On January 17th, a new message from Zodiac is sent out.

SHIFTING GATE IDENTIFIED IN KAMI STATE PARK.
Element Classification: Water
Danger Level: B, Environmental and Psychological Hazards
Designation: Helheim
A new shifting gate has been located in Kami State Park. It's been linked to the freezing of at least four civilians. If you plan to investigate, bring winter clothing and means to defend yourself. You will be compensated if you bring the plant Hel's Bramble to the Zodiac office in Undertown. Supplies necessary for gathering will be loaned upon request.

Going to the Zodiac Office will yield only an little additional information from the customer service representative. A potentially dangerous gate to the Spirit Realm has been identified in Kami State Park. It's been linked with the freezing of at least four civilians who stumbled across it. Zodiac won't force anyone to go, but if you decide to investigate it yourself to see if you can figure out what's going on or gather resources for them? They'd be happy to compensate you with a generous sum of money. A bag's worth of Hel's bramble, a type of plant found in this particular realm, will yield about a week's worth of pay at a full time job - with an even higher bonus if you deal with the source of the gate's appearance. For those of you who need supplies for a dangerous mission, Zodiac is willing to loan some out to you, with an understanding that they should be returned once the mission is complete. Weapons made of silver and/or spirit tree wood, infused with elemental energy. There's a variety to choose from, so characters can pick whatever type of weapon they'd be most comfortable with.

Once one is geared up and ready to go (or you skip visiting Zodiac altogether), it's off to the park. When you arrive, the Libra app will act as a navigator, leading the way. Deep in the forest and near a pond, a large stone gate stands erect. This gate was never here before this week, anyone whose been to this park before can verify that. A deep cold emanates from the glowing portal that stands open within the gate. Around the portal, you can find the four civilians the text messaged mentioned; all thoroughly encased in ice. Studying them it'll look like it was a group of male hikers somewhere in their twenties, all who look like they were in personal anguish as they froze.

Once inside the gate, you'll find yourself in a completely different landscape. A frozen and desolate landscape, with a cold so sharp it cuts through the bone. It's a dreary land, with no sign of sunlight and a persistent veil of fog. Scattered across the landscape are more frozen figures, but these ones appear much older with clothes and braided hairstyles that indicate the Viking era. All of them appear to have spent their final moments in torment and agony. In the distance, characters can make out an impossibly large tree, one so large that it'd dwarf the skyscrapers of Kaisou. You cannot see the top of the tree, as it's grown so high that it vanishes in the foggy clouds above. Built into the tree is an entire city's worth of buildings, all of which stand empty and falling into ruin. Habitant wise, there's almost nothing but flocks of ravens that fly around the scenery. You get the sense they are watching you, as if it was their duty. And if you weren't feeling watched enough, on one of the tree's large branches sits a bird-like creature the size of a ten-story building. It watches over this land, monitoring for any disturbances. Harming the ravens will draw its attention further, and continuing to do so will eventually cause the large bird to spread its wings and swoop in for an attack. Be warned, trying to fight it would be nothing short of suicide.

Thickets of Hel's Bramble can be found scattered around this desolate landscape, overgrown and wild with no one around to tend it. It's a tough plant, only harvestable by using elemental powers or an enchanted blade (better hope you stopped by Zodiac). Touching it without any gloves will result in pain from the sharp thorns, and prolong contact could cause painful rashes and potential poisoning. Eating it is definitely not recommended. The thickets become more plentiful the deeper you go into the realm, so if you want to get that bag full as Zodiac requested, you'll won't be able to loiter around the entrance. Best that you be dressed for the cold, as the persistent cold and icy winds could prove deadly if you went in unprepared.

However the characters will soon discover it's not the cold or the Hel's Brambles that are the real threat of this realm. On occasion, the fog will condense and play out echoes of one's past regrets and sins, from this life and the one before. Anywhere from a great atrocity to an embarrassing moment you hate to think about. They are visible to anyone around and have sound, the words holding a distant echo to them. Even memories that you have yet to recall are fair game to the fog, adding an extra level of confusion and distress to the situation. These echoes don't last long, but they appear frequently enough that they can torment a soul if one lets them. But the more someone gets lost in the echoes, the deeper the realm's chill will become. An unfortunate soul who gets too lost in them will have ice start to form on their body, as the realm attempts to entrap them here forever.

The Valkyrie

If one makes it halfway to the tree, they'll hear a woman's voice, calling out in a haunting melody that's being carried on the wind. Following it will lead them to the city built into a tree. Most of the buildings have been abandoned and are in total ruin, much like most of this realm, save for a single light that's flickering from the city's arena. Inside the arena is a winged woman with full battle Viking battle garb: a Valkyrie. You best prepare for a fight before you get too close to her, as that's exactly what you'll get. She does not speak, but draws her scythe and lunges in for an attack. With superhuman speed and strength, she's a formidable foe. She unleashes brutal ice attacks and even her feathers can cut flesh. It'll take skill, determination, and teamwork to bring her down.

Nothing short of a fatal blow will stop her onslaught. Should one managed, she'll choke out a single word of gratitude, before disappearing into light. On the ground where she fell is the medallion from the Winter Carnival. After her defeat, the conditions of the realm will become less severe, making it easier to gather any Hel's Bramble you wish to collect.

Aftermath

With the Valkyrie defeated, the gate to the Spirit Realm will close by January 31st. The four civilians will be thawed out, still alive but with no memory of what happened to them. Interestingly, anyone who pays attention to police reports might notice a missing persons report of a woman in her early twenties who went missing around the same time as the gate's appearance. There's been no leads on her case.

Zodiac will pay for up to four bags of Hel's Bramble, for those who want to spend that much time harvesting. Failure to return their loaned out weapons will result in being sent a bill of $2000 and a mild curse so anyone who uses your name will call you "THIEF" instead. The curse will last until either pay your bill or set up a payment plan with their office. Returning the weapon after this point will get the bill reduced down to $500 (a late fee, they explain). As for the medallion, you're welcome to turn it in-- but since you found it well after the carnival ended- that grand prize has been reduced down to $100 and a free meal voucher to the Cheesecake Factory to anyone who helped find the medallion (aka fought the Valkyrie). Great!

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is water! Anyone with an affinity to the water element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for fire will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.

Any fights or interactions with NPCs will be handled by the players! Feel free to thread out things however you'd like! If you have any questions, please ask them on the plot questions thread below!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Helheim (Arrival)

[The last thing Bruno remembered was getting in close for a family photo. Casita had pitched and shifted and he remembers stumbling...and then suddenly he's in a snowdrift. A deep, cold snowdrift. His first thought is Pepa - maybe this is her revenge for the whole Wedding Debacle. He kind of deserves it. He groans - just kind of lying there in the snowdrift, waiting for the laughter of his family and for Luisa to pick him up out of it. None of that is happening, though.

So he casually lifts his head, spitting out snow as he does so, looking around at...not home.]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Guys?

[He is categorically not dressed to survive this frigid landscape. He could at least use something other than sandals on his feet, wow. Freezing to death would be a really cruddy way to arrive here. ]

City in general:

[Bruno definitely didn't stick around in Helheim. Harvesting mystical flowers is not his remit (that's an Isabela area) and he definitely didn't want to hang around in the freezing cold longer than he had to. Besides, there was something about doing favours for bread and board that left a bitter taste in his mouth. He not quite past that particular emotional hurdle to go all-in just yet.

Once he's through the gates, he's met with what might as well be an alien atmosphere. Everything is so much bigger and louder and brighter than the encanto is. His anxiety overtaking any curiosity he has, he makes a break for the beach. It's still cold and miserable but the sand is familiar and he'll take some scant comfort from that.

He can be found sitting, cross-legged in the sand, squinting between his smartphone and the directions on how to use it, mumbling softly under his breath as he tries to understand it like a grandma who's been told she needs to learn how to program a VCR. Rats settle around him, one on his head, one on his shoulder, the other two snuggled inside his ruana squeaking softly once in a while. He doesn't seem to notice them. ]

...And then you press the save button. What's a save button? [He shows the phone the rat on his shoulder.] Do you see a save button? I don't see a save button.

Penguin Resolve

[Bruno didn't arrive in time for the new years resolutions. He didn't make any and his last decade was more a case of depressing existence than it was trying to focus on bettering himself.

Which is to say he's really confused when a group of penguins waddle over to circle him as he's doing his best to avoid people as much as humanly possible, trying to fade into the shadows of a nearby alleyway. He's about to just step over them, continue on his day, when one pecks at his ankle.]

Ow! HEY!

[They continue to peck at him, and he quickly realises they are herding him off out of the alleyway and into the nearest person outside it. Sorry, that's you. There are a few distressed rat-squeaks from inside his ruana as he collides with the poor sap the penguins have decided he needs to interact with. He steps away, wincing.]

Sorry- sorry. Didn't mean to do that. The [he gestures at the penguins surrounding them] well, they did it.

[[Any wildcards? Let me know by PMing me or pinging me on <user name=teeff site=plurk.com or teefflady#2361 and give me a holler!!]]

[Weirdly enough, the penguins have ushered Bruno over to the guy with a shadow-familiar-in-the-shape-of-a-raven. Maybe they thought the bird guy would be nice to someone being harassed by other birds?

Julian doesn't even wait for August to whistle before he's flying off to chase the penguins away. Stupid birds!!

August, meanwhile, just helps stabilize the poor guy--and responds in Spanish!]

You're fine. The damn penguins've been harassing literally everyone.

[The penguin logic is flawless and clearly should not be questioned. Bruno watches the raven fly away with the detached acceptance of someone who has already reached his limit of Insane Things for the day and cannot accept any more.

The fact he's being spoken to in his own language is deeply comforting. Finally, something normal.]

They have? Why? Did they...escape from somewhere? Are they crime penguins? Is that a thing that can exist? It feels like a thing that can exist.

...honestly, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if that's a thing that exists. But no, no one knows what the fuck is up with them. Better question though, what the fuck are you wearing? It's January, dude.

Uh, rude? It's called fashion?

[It absolutely isn't fashion. It's a decades-old ruana that is categorically falling apart. He is in no way dressed for January. He pulls it a little closer around him, and a rat scuttles out to sit on his shoulder.

The rats are also fashion.

Obviously. ]

Look, I got here like... hours ago? Feels like hours and there's literally snow to deal with unless Pepa's having some kind of moment so, y'know. [How can he possibly know is anyone's guess.] Anyway, I'm just working out how to get out of here, so-

Old, very outdated fashion, but sure.

[Nice rats.]

And what do you mean, you go here hours ag---where were you before getting here?

[He remembers that guy on Libra and god fucking dammit if this is another one--]

[He raises a finger to argue it's NOT outdated, and then remembers honestly it's a decade out of date due to the Wall Situation and drops his hand- focusing on the question instead. ]

Columbia? [He gestures around them which is...definitely not there.] People aren't supposed to be able to leave the encanto? I've never left it. [Is this helpful information? Unlikely.] So I intend to go back. To where my family is. Which isn't here.

...yeah, no. Uh, you're in the middle of America, like the United States. Colombia is way the fuck south of here. I am gonna assume you did not get here by plane? Or, fuck, boat? Train? Walking?

Wh- no? How did I get here? That doesn't make sense.

[He definitely can't teleport. The last time he checked, anyway. ]

Nope, I just...I think I was in my room? And then I was in a snowdrift? And then this kid dragged me out of it and took me through this gate and now I'm here and trying to figure out how to get back to Columbia. So is there...a boat? Or literally anything?

If you got a passport and like. A fuckton of money, sure.

[Fuck.]

Fuck. Okay. Shit. You wanna get something or someplace warm?

Bruno Madrigal | OU | OTA

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Helheim

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sorry this is so late!

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