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kaisou2022-01-09 09:01 am
JANUARY EVENT LOG
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
※
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 ResolveRemember 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 HellOn 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 ValkyrieIf 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.
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!
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!
2/2
...Although, I'm sure if we were able to convince anyone else that all of this is real, there would be several medical professionals very interested in knowing how they apparently raised a man from the dead.
[Since, well. Zelos sure is displaying all the signs of not, in fact, being dead! But what room does she have to question him on that?]
I've been wondering, though. Why did you tell me that?
You seem like the kind of person that could keep just about anything a secret, if you really wanted to... so why be so outright with that, of all things?
no subject
Yeah, that's about how it was, huh? They've been pretty cryptic with us since we got here too. I have the suspicion they just don't wanna let on how little they actually know about what's going on.
[Fake it until you make it. People do it, why wouldn't corporations?
But there she is, focusing on the fact he's dead. It's not a surprise, it is pretty unusual. And he can't deny her description of him is pretty apt]
Haha, sounds like you got my number... [He gives a shrug] Honestly it's because there's no reason for me to keep quiet about it. People are gonna figure out sooner or later. I mean, Ana and Amal are pretty set on finding a way back to their worlds. I'm sure Adol is too. So wouldn't it strike people as odd when I don't feel the same?
no subject
[She's eating that piece of funnel cake out of misery now, while listening to Zelos.]
Let's just say you're not the first person I've met with this particular personality quirk.
[Including herself, at least when it comes to certain things. And that explanation...
It makes sense on a surface level, sure. But Ris can already think up at least one way, were she in Zelos' shoes, to lie her way out of people's questioning. Certainly, if she can come up with that, so can Zelos. So there has to be more to it than that, isn't there?
...Honestly, it's not that hard for her to make a guess. Those that consider themselves to be lost causes must just attract one another, she supposes, because it's happened too many times at this point for it to be a coincidence.
She's definitely been quiet a little too long, but ultimately she just shrugs.]
I guess that's fair enough. Probably just easier to get the hard part out of the way first, right?
[But if she's letting that go... where to take conversation from here? Hm...]
How long have you been here, anyway?
no subject
[He says it flippantly, but in truth...the fact he was alive now was nothing short of a twisted joke of the universe. Countless in his world had suffered and died in one guy's pursuit to revive the dead. And yet here he was, the one who should've never been born in the first place, getting a second go on life he didn't even ask for.
Just what the hell was the universe playing at?
But...ah well, none of that was Ris's problem. She was just trying to sort out her own world which had been thoroughly turned upside down. ]
Something like that, yeah. Better they know up front than find out at some inconvenient time. [And perhaps it's a way to hold people off. People are more careful around a dead man. It's easier that way]
About a year? I showed up last winter.
cw: minor suicidal ideation
Mm. For a... certain definition of "easier," perhaps. [She can't even tell him he's wrong to be thinking that way, though. She hasn't even had to die before to have had a similar thought cross her mind, but in the end, here she is. And here he is, as well. So, as long as he doesn't start acting on those thoughts, it's... well, it's not "fine," but it's not something she should stick her nose into, right? She barely even knows this guy, after all.] But, it's like you said... it is what it is, now.
I guess all either of us can do is try to muddle through all of this.
[A pause, to take a sip of her hot chocolate. It's getting cold, now, but who cares? Still sweet, still good.]
Ah. I figured it had to be something like that, given how well you seem to have adjusted.
Have they had you guys on missions like they're assigning us now the whole time, then? Or were you wandering blind for a while?
no subject
So instead he just makes an "mmmn" noise and nods along]
Mm, whatever will be will be.
[His old catchphrase, but he's moving along with the conversation. Never one to linger on anything potentially vulnerable, this one]
Haha, yeah pretty much. My first few months were pretty rocky, getting used to everything. But now I think I've really adapted!
[Being actually smart and observant did benefit him sometimes]
Bit of both? They'd send us on some missions like save this person from a monster or sponsor this product. But it's not like they ever explained all that much.
no subject
Que sera, sera.
[And with that, she'll move along too. It'll be too depressing if they don't, and she is assuredly Not in the mood for that.]
From what little I've seen, you certainly seem to have! If you hadn't told me all of this, I never would have suspected a thing.
And, well, I think if I've gleaned anything from this conversation, it's that they are not good at explanations, so I think that part's to be expected. Still... I guess it's good to know they have some variety in their missions. Money talks, after all, and if all their missions are like this one it could end very badly, very quickly. I don't imagine most of us "normies" are at all trained for this.
no subject
Why thanks! I figured the clueless newbie schtick would lose it's cuteness eventually, so might as well catch up, you know?
Haha, yeah. You guys really do seem like fish outta water with the whole danger stuff. [He doesn't envy them] So you're planning to keep doing work for Zodiac? Are your funds that tight?
no subject
[At the comment about being a fish out of water, she sighs. It's true...]
You can say that again! We're all pretty much trained for the corporate world or menial labor, not exploration and combat. At least they offered us weaponry, but even that's minimally useful without the knowledge of how to use it.
[Thus why Ris picked a knife! That can't be too much harder than "aim and stab," right?]
I don't know if I'll go back, personally... I guess it depends on how things shake out. What further openings into that realm look like.
My expenses are covered, at least for the time being, so it's not like I'm desperate for cash. I went in there this time mostly to satisfy a morbid curiosity. Turned out to be more morbid than I even expected, though.
no subject
[PREACH Ris, you are speaking his language with that one.]
Yeah, the lack of monsters sure has made you earth folk pretty soft. [thanks Zelos]
Yeah, that place sure wasn't a walk in the park huh? [he shrugs] Can't blame you for not wanting to go back. The whole thing's a pain, if you ask me.
no subject
[He's not wrong, but listen. Talk like that just invites trouble!]
Not in the slightest. But it sounds like things are bound to change sooner or later. [She sighs.] Mmhm... but as much of a headache as everything's been since Zodiac wedged themselves into my life, I can't deny that things have been interesting, at least.
Not that I'm looking to die or anything, so interest alone isn't going to keep me in "corpses as far as the eye can see" land. But if things change up, and it sounds like they will sooner or later... I won't take anything off the table.
[She laughs a little at herself, clicking her tongue.]
Wouldn't be the first stupid thing I've done to get myself out of the house, anyway.
1/2
[He makes a thoughtful sound, but doesn't respond much. Instead he's looking at her, with an expression that betrays that he's much more observant than you'd think. As if trying to sort out a read on her.
She might be one of those types that's looking for a "meaning" to her life. That'd explain why she's not ruling out getting involved despite her own misgivings. Interesting. ]
no subject
Haha, fair enough. Well, if you decide to tag along, welcome aboard!
Though, I sure hope the next gate is someplace warmer. I've had just enough of all this cold and snow.
cw: suicidal ideation
She was a mistake, a capricious whim. Just because no one's had the guts to say it to her face doesn't mean she can't draw the obvious conclusions for herself. No, the only reason she's still here is because she's a coward and the universe has yet to decide to take her out.
Until she either runs out of options or the universe finally figures out its mistake, she figures she may as well just try to find something interesting to do. Spending all her time alone in a cold, empty condo isn't exactly her idea of a good time, after all.
...Not that she'd just admit any of that to Zelos, of course. But, you know. Meta text and all of that.
She does tilt her head at his expression for a second, but then he moves along, and although she blinks a little in confusion, she's happy to move right along with him.]
Ehe. Thanks.
And oh, goodness, please! Not that I notice the cold that much anymore, not since Zodiac, but I think we could all use a dose of sunshine. Maybe seeing colors that aren't grey again? That would be nice.
no subject
Yeah, tell me about it! All this white and gray, everywhere? I'm so sick of it! [snow is the worst]
But what do you mean you don't notice the cold much anymore since Zodiac?
no subject
Oh, that. Well...
Originally, the day I got the app, I thought the thermostat in our condo had busted, because my bed was covered in frost. And it's right next to the window, and it's winter, so that would make sense if it had broken.
...But, nope. Turns out the heating is just fine, it's just that I have weird ice powers now. And part of that means the cold just doesn't bug me anymore.
Works out for me, I guess. Coats are cute and all, but they're not exactly cheap.
no subject
[Waking up covered in frost? That's a pass for Zelos, thank you very much! But still, it's odd. This girl didn't have any powers before, and now she's getting them?]
Saving money on coats sure is a benefit, from the sound of it. And your fashion won't be weather dependent either.
[She could live the JRPG dream and wear a battle bikini in the ice level. Amazing]
It's strange though. My roommate recently got some of her super strength back that she lost when she came here. It's almost like something's cranking up the wild powers dial somewhere.
no subject
Yeah. At least it really hasn't done that since I started practicing to get the hang of these, but it's still just... what.
There's definitely something going on, though. I don't think it's Zodiac themselves causing it, though... not if what you're saying is anything to go by.
no subject
"What" sounds like the best way to describe it.
[He doesn't like this. The more other people get powers, the more he worries about his own powers coming back. Does not want that, nooo thanks]
Yeah, I think if this was their doing, you would've received a bill for your powers by now.
no subject
Also, re: powers - sorry for your lots, Zelos.]
Ha. Like hell I'm paying them for this. They ought to pay me. The water and electricity bills are going to be so bad this month, with how many times I've had to wash the bed linens...
no subject
[He'll rap the table before getting up, stretching]
Speaking of paying bills, I should probably get going. [he does have work after all] It's been talking to you though, Ris. Keep in touch, will ya?
[If anything, this conversation did get his mind off the dark places it was wandering when he was on his own, so he'd say that's a success. ]
no subject
[Sigh. But, oh, he's leaving. She nods in understanding.]
All right. Have a good rest of your day, then. [She pauses for a split second, and when she continues her voice is just a little softer, just a little more genuine. It's probably not intentional.] Thanks for the company.
no subject
Hey, think nothing of it! Getting to spend time with a lovely lady such as yourself is all the thanks I need!
[And with a flirty smile, he'll walk off. Welp, that was a good way to spend some time, but now off to work]