September Event Log

[kaisoumods]

September Event Log
Dominant Element: Wind
Waning Element: Earth

Full Moon: September 16th - September 18th

※

As the absolutely wild summer months leave Kaisou behind, the cooler and hopefully less chaotic September takes their place. The Spirit Vein turns shades of green as the elemental alignment shifts more towards wind, with the weather getting windier to match. Hold on to your hats and small-and-easily-blown-away pets!

Up in the Air

With Labor Day weekend, comes the end of the summer and the transition in to fall. Seemingly overnight, pumpkin spiced products appear on store shelves across the city. Everything from the classic Pumpkin Spiced lattes, to pumpkin spiced cookies, to the much more unorthodox pumpkin spiced salmon? Besides the annual Pumpkin Spiced explosion, students will be heading back to the classroom now - ready to start another year of high school or college. After the wild summer it's been, no doubt many of them are looking forward to a mundane life at school.

Amongst all the expected back-to-school advertisements and specials, you might hear talk of a festival coming to Kaisou for the first time. No, this one is not run by yokai, don't worry. The International Hot Air Balloon Aficionado Association has chosen the area just outside of the city to host their annual Balloon Fest. Starting on September 7th and going through until the 14th, the Association will be in Kaisou. There will be demonstrations, lessons, and even some people offering tethered rides to the residents of the city. On the morning of the 14th, you can wake up early and watch as nearly a hundred hot air balloons take flight.

Crime (Shouldn't) Pay

In the darker, seedier parts of the city rumors have begun to take hold. Word is getting out that the Black Order, the supernatural world's boogeyman for centuries, has fallen. There's a whole myriad of reactions: disbelief, shock, confusion, relief, and concern. But one thing is clear: there's no more fear of the Order appearing to seal or cart you away if you get on their bad side.

Almost as soon as the rumors start, so does the increase in crime. It's nothing big yet, with most of it being petty crimes, but it's impossible to miss the spike in supernaturally-based crimes. Robberies without any sign of a break-in, graffiti that resists clean-up, and other such small-time crimes become the topic of gossip in Undertown with several merchants complaining about being victims. There's talk of working to beef up their magical security, but really... how much longer will that work? How long until someone tries to do something worse?

Return to the Farm

On the morning of September 5th, Zodiac will send out a message to everyone on the Libra app.

ALERT: ASSISTANCE REQUESTED IN STARDEW VALLEY
Dominant Element: Wind
Danger Level: Low
Designation: Stardew Valley
Zodiac has received a request for aid from Stardew Valley. Those who wish to help, please enter through the stable gate via train from Central Square. The dispatched Zodiac liaisons will explain the situation there.

Those of you who decide to help (or those of you who work for Zodiac and aren't given much of a choice in the matter) can meet up in Central Square. Sure enough, the same Zodiac employees you've been working with will be there, having once again been assigned to another field mission. They were told that the owner of the fishing shop in Stardew Valley, Willy, has contacted Zodiac to ask for some assistance. Past that... they don't know much more than you do. But the train to Stardew Valley will be waiting to take you into the idyllic realm, so it'd be good to get aboard.

When you arrive in the valley, you'll see that the town has also shifted into the autumn season, with beautiful autumn colors on full display. But you're not here to look at trees. At the train station, you're met by two people: Willy, the familiar fisherman of Stardew Valley, and another equally crusty looking fisherman. Willy will introduce the other fisherman as Wataru to everyone and explain the problem. You see, if you ever take a short boat trip from Stardew, you'll reach Coral Island, an island that's home to another farming community called Starlet Town. Well lately, it seems some strange, otherworldly pollution has started to cause problems there, damaging the local ecosystem. They reached out to Pelican Town for help, who in turn reached out to the folks of Zodiac. You guys were so helpful and seem to know a lot about the otherworldly stuff, after all.

So, it's down to the docks and onto the boats with everyone. As you approach the island, you're greeted with pristine waters and shining beaches... being absolutely covered in strange, black, slimy twisted roots. It's starting to leak onto the land itself, staining the beaches. This is going to be a problem.

As you dock, you're met by the mayor and the local scientist. They're so relieved to see you and waste no time in filling you in on what they've learned. The pollution seems to be coming from an abandoned building in the middle of town that used to belong to your typical polluting mega-corp, but it's not the normal sort of pollution. "It's almost alive," Ling explain. "Like...slimes monsters, almost." No one here is able to handle it, so it'll be up to you. But you won't be going in completely unarmed, as they pass out vaccuum cannons that can be used to either suck things up, or shoot things out.

Now arm, it's time to investigate. Whether you head to the building they mentioned, or out to the beach- it'll be easy to find the the sludge. Closer inspection of the roots and sludge reveal that there are, in fact, slimes monsters spreading the tarr. Tarr slimes, a monster made of pure slime and tar. They have managed to get into this realm, their tar mixing with the ocean around Coral Island to form the pollution. They're rather dangerous too, as they will lunge and attack anyone they see- even grabbing people with tar to try to drag them into their massive jaws.

High-pressure water (the vacuum cannon will have a setting for this, handy!) will do a lot to get the tar off the land. Within the abandoned building, you'll find a dimensional tear where many of these tarr slimes are coming from. Ask a nearby Zodiac employee (if they aren't available, a newly unemployed Black Order member will do too) to do the magical ritual that'll seal it up, and it will help put a cap on the land issue. However, it doesn't seem to do anything to the roots in the water. Time to go diving, either with the suits loaned to you by Starlet Town or your own powers.

Under the Sea

As you dive under, you're met with so much trash and weird goopy roots that it's almost difficult to move. As you clear out the trash (and tarr slimes, they are everywhere), though, you'll find strange monuments that hum with magic. Touch them, and a pulse of energy goes out, clearing out any slimes you may have missed. They won't form again, either, so it's safe to move on.

Dive deeper into the ocean, clearing out the slimes and activating the monuments and eventually you will be met with several merfolk. You're asked to stay put while one of them fetches their king so you can explain yourselves to him. Upon doing that (and showing that you've cleaned out the pollution from the rest of the ocean), you're welcomed into their kingdom and regions of the ocean beyond.

As you swim through the kingdom, you might notice a tree made of coral. It, too, is covered in the pollution, and if you ask about it the merfolk will say that their Coral Tree is usually capable of keeping the oceans free of this sort of pollution. With all the slimes, however, it's all the tree can do to keep the kingdom itself clean. Hopefully, if you're able to clear out more of the ocean they can heal the tree.

It'll take some time and cooperation between the folks under the sea and the ones who stayed on land, clearing trash and slimes and finding dimensional in the world the slimes are coming from (which, for anyone with magical sensing, might notice whiffs of...fae magic? Strange.) and closing them up, but it can be done! Once the ocean is mostly clean, the merfolk are able to restore their tree and purify the rest of the island. Congratulations! The residents of Coral Island are delighted and have decided it's time to celebrate with a party!

That is, once you take care of one more problem. With the dangerous tarr slimes gone, you'll realize those aren't the only slimes to have gotten through the tears. Smaller, cuter slimes are now roaming around the island. They aren't causing any pollution, nor are they hostile to anyone- but there's a lot of them and they like to eat a lot. But instead of writing them off as a new pest to take out, people notice that whenever they do eat something, they create magical gemstones. Realizing this could be a golden opportunity for both Starlet Town and Pelican town to profit, a new plan is devised. They ask you to use that vacuum cannon to suck up the small slimes (who are perfectly unharmed by this), and bring them to ranches in both towns so they can get started on a whole new kind of farming.

Now it's time to party.

[OOC Note: Coral Island is now an accessible location in the Stardew Valley realm! In addition, Pink, Tabby and Phosphor slimes are now available to ranch in Stardew Valley OR keep as pets! Other slime breeds will be available to unlock in gacha goodwill]

The Missing Researchers

While some folks are off helping out with the slime problem in Stardew Valley, the folks who choose to remain in Kaisou will be alerted to another problem. You see, over Labor Day weekend, several members of POKEGO had went on a camping expedition in the Kanto realm. It's hardly the first time the group has done that, and in fact it's pretty routine that teams will go into the realm to either study the Pokemon or map out the realm.

However, what's not so routine is that they are now well past the planned return date... and there hasn't been any sign of the group. They aren't back in the city, nor are they responding to any attempts to contact them. Not only is this pretty out-of-character for these expeditions... but it's even more worrying considering the group had some well known capable people with them. Clearly, something must have gone wrong.

So it's time to grab some supplies, get your sniffer dogs ready, and head into the Kanto realm to search for them. For the most part, the realm looks the same as ever: lush nature that's filled with various kinds of wild Pokemon. If there's one difference, it's that there's a lot more berries and fruit to be around. It all looks really tempting to eat, especially if you forgot to pack your own food for the trek.

Should you give into temptation and eat some, you'll find it tastes delicious. But that sweet taste? Will have a bitter consequence, as you'll find yourself turning into a Pokemon. For some it'll happen all at once, and others it'll happen slowly over time- but the end result is the same. While you'll still have your mind intact and can communicate with others, you'll be unable to use any of your powers- instead stuck with abilities normally found in whatever kind of Pokemon you turned into. Is this what happened to the expedition team? Surely not-- while it's believable a few of them would brave eating fruit they found, it's hard to think all of them would be that reckless.

With the right tracking methods, it should be easy to pick up on the group's trail as they headed westward. Everything about their tracks will appear perfectly normal (besides the burnt tent remains in one of the camp sites), so probably someone was wise enough to stop them from eating the strange berries. Eventually, the trail will lead to a previously undiscovered land bridge- leading to a whole new region of land. There's a rusty sign, with the words "Welcome to Johto!" written on it. And all signs indicate that the missing group? Must've let their curiosity get the better of them, as they all crossed the land bridge.

Johto Region

As you cross into the Johto region, you'll find another Pokemon filled land that's been abandoned. However unlike the Kanto region where most of the signs of previous human life lies in utter ruin, a lot of the infrastructure here is... much more intact. There are roads that are still usable, and many of the buildings look like they only needs some basic upkeep rather than to be condemned. If anyone wanted to start living in this realm, it'd be much easier to get a start here.

However, you aren't going to be given much time to explore. A few miles into the Johto region, and you'll start to sense that you aren't the only humanoid beings here. But before you can get a chance to sense who it is, a whole squad of Fae ambush you from the overgrown shrubbery. They attack quickly, throwing curses at any person in their direct line of sight. If you get hit by a curse, you'll feel yourself transforming into a Pokemon right before you're struck with a pokeball- sucking you inside. If you're extremely lucky, you'll manage to escape.... leaving you stranded in the Pokemon wilderness without your group. The fae run off as quick as they appeared, so you'll have to be quick if you want to follow after them.

As for those captured... you'll be stuck in that pokeball for awhile (though, luckily, it's surprisingly comfortable and a great napping spot). After a long time, the pokeball will open up and you'll stumble out into what appears to be a Pokemon ranch. With you are all of your other companions who got captured... as well as that lost POKEGO group. All of them have been turned into Pokemon.

You can ask around what's going on, but all you really need to do is look up to see a massive banner that reads: Welcome Competitors to the 1st Annual Pokéathlon!

Seems like the Fae are going to make you go through more bullshit, yet again.

[OOC Note: Characters can be any kind of Pokemon that isn't a legendary. If the chosen Pokemon type is more than 7 feet, they are shrunk down to that size. They cannot access any of their canon/kaisou powers in this form, but they will have access to 4 Pokemon abilities free of charge for the plot. These abilities need to be ones your chosen Pokemon type learns by leveling. Comment here with your chosen Pokemon type and abilities. ]

The Pokéathlon

Asking either the POKEGO members or the Fae will get you the same basic explanation: this group of Fae broke off from the Seelie Courts and decided to find their own realm. They liked it quite a lot, and got really excited when they found records that back when this area was inhabited, the locals would hold a "Pokéathlon" where Pokemon would do competitions. Which really, sounded quite exciting! However, many of the Fae had misgivings towards roping the wild Pokemon into these challenges since they were just innocent animals... so they found a much less cruel solution of kidnapping humans, turning them into Pokemon, and making them compete! Those magical berries? Also their doing!

The Fae promise up and down that if you take part in the Pokéathlon and put in honest effort, they will happily turn you back to normal once it's over. They'll even clear out, so you don't have to deal with them again! Though, their concessions are possibly less than reassuring, as it's also made clear that if you refuse to cooperate or try to attack them, they'll just leave you as a Pokemon forever.

In other words, if you hope to ever have opposable thumbs again? You best get ready to compete.

There's any number of competitions that you can take part of, since the Pokéathlon truly is a big event. As long as you participate in at least a couple, it'll satisfy the Fae captors.

The events are:

• Beauty Pageant: A classic animal beauty pageant. The fae will help the Pokemon characters get groomed and dolled up into what they feel are cute looks. You will then get paraded onto a stage to show off how cute or pretty you are. There's also some basic contests, such as doing some kind of dance or answering questions about complicated topics within 1 minute. You know, usual pageant stuff!
• Magikarp Jump: Don't worry, you don't have to be a magikarp to participate! You just have to have to have the spirit of one. In this competition, you're expected to jump as high as you can, without using any kinds of feet or arms. Basically, you have to flop around like a fish. Be careful about jumping too high though, as there's always a risk of a Pidgey swooping in and grabbing you.
• Clefairy Says: Is a Pokemon version of Simon Says, with a Clefairy giving increasingly complicated commands. Should you fail to follow, you will get hit with a hammer. This will continue until you get hit enough to pass out or plead for mercy. Why was this okayed?
• Battle Tournaments: A classic Pokemon battle. You'll be up against either Pokemon you are assigned to fight, or you have challenged to a fight. Unable to use your own abilities, you are limited to whatever 4 Pokemon powers you were given when you were transformed. There is a second arena area that was opened up very quickly after they realize they got a hold of the Sparda brothers.
• Races: A series of races that take place either on a track, or through the wilderness of Johto. To make things interesting, there's been things like hurdles and obstacles that you have to dodge out of the way of. And if you're racing in the wild, there's always a chance a wild Pokemon will come out of nowhere and attack you. That's fun.
• Block Smash:: Possibly the challenge that brings the most stress relief. You are placed in an area with blocks of various materials and asked to smash as many as you can within a time limit. Get out all your aggression towards the fae here.

At the end of each event, they'll hold an award ceremony where they will hand out medals based on everyone's performance. Some of the results are straight forward, while others are judged on basically whatever random thing the fae deem as important. Anyone who does manage to get the top three spots will be rewards with a bronze, silver or gold medal- and some extra berries to enjoy. Just what you wanted, huh.

Aftermath

Once the Pokéathlon concludes and all the award ceremonies are completed, the Fae will remain true to their word and return everyone cursed back to their previous forms.... right before bailing out with a portal before any of you can get at them. Most everyone has been returned to normal, though it seems while in the Kanto-Johto realm, they'll still be able to shift into their Pokemon form if they wish. That's probably nothing to worry about, right?

Now it's time to head back home to Kaisou. It's been a rather busy month, with two of the stable realms having their own problems. Yet considering the last couple months, there's something nice about dealing with some lower stakes.

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is Wind! Anyone with an affinity to the wind 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 Earth 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.

After this plot, characters will be able to access their Pokemon form free of charge while in the Kanto-Johto realm. Characters that missed out on the Fae may gain a Pokemon form by consuming the cursed berries left in the Kanto area. Should you wish to access your Pokemon form outside of Kanto, you can purchase it (or aspects of it) using regains. Pokemon-related purchase prices can be found on the Elemental Regain page under monsters.

The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. There will be a midmonth Zodiac post on the 15th.