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kaisou2025-02-03 02:19 pm
February Town Log
February City Log
Dominant Element: Fire
Waning Element: Wind
Full Moon: February 11th - 13th
※
With the arrival of February, the worst of winter is finally past. In the sky, the Spirit Vein will take on the colors of fire, blazing across the sky in hues of red and orange. As such, the temperature will begin to warm to much more bearable weather. While it's still winter, as the month moves on it'll step closer and closer to spring with rising temperature and melting snow. Most of the days are sunny and bright, bringing much needed warmth to the town.
Valentine's DayThe season of love is once again here for Kaisou. Throughout the city, stores and streets are decorated in red and pink hearts along with loads of other romantic themed things. Just about everywhere you turn, there's vendors selling chocolates, flowers, jewelry, as well as mundane items that are trying desperately to be marketed as great Valentine's day gifts. If you're hoping to take your date out to eat for the special holiday, you better make reservations well in advanced- as the nicer restaurants will quickly fill up. But don't worry if you didn't plan ahead, because Papa's Omniria is open with a full Valentine's Day special line up that includes strawberries and pomegranate being added to just about everything - even if it's really questionable if it actually works (strawberry and pomegranate sushi?). Just be careful not to be the first customer of the week, unless you prefer to work through the holiday.
Down in Undertown, the merchants there have also gotten into the holiday spirit. Lots of stores are selling enchanted items used to help keep the spirit of love going: aphrodisiacs, enchanted rose petals, and various potions and enchantments that'll help you in the bedroom. The kitsune have also opened up a shop here, peddling beauty products that they claim will definitely attract a date-- but in reality the only date you'll be making is one to the Urgent Care to clear up a heart-shaped rash, or a date to salon to get the hot-pink dye out of your hair.
Looking for a more romantic getaway? The sparrow clan that live in the El Nido realm can also be found in Undertown, promoting their beach resort. For the small price of delicious birdseed, you'll be welcomed to stay at their beach resort paradise in El Nido. During your stay, you'll be given a 5-star treatment from room service, massages, spas, and a high quality restaurant where you can have a romantic dinner as the sunsets over the ocean. It might be a perfect way to spend a romantic holiday- or simply get away from the winter cold.
As usual, whether you're shopping in Undertown or around the city- you'll find an absence of any kind of true love potions. Those are seen as deeply taboo in paranormal circles. Even than less than moral vendors don't want to risk a visit from the Black Order peddling those.
Speaking of the Black Order, just like every year, there's those people out there who use romantic holiday as an excuse to sell much more dangerous potions. Almost like clockwork, they start to hear reports of some dealing selling "love potions". Sure enough, if you look into it, you find victims who are dealing with the typical array of symptoms: obsessive love, disregards of personal well being, and blind devotion. Though there seems to be something a little bit different from this year's batch, as the victims seem ... more detached from reality than normal. They ramble incoherently more, and any victims that happen to be monsters are acting much more bestial, almost as if they've become feral.
Fortunately, there is an antidote. The Black Order headquarters will send batches of a bitter tasting antidote potion. While normally this clears up symptoms right away, this year? It'll still work, but some of the victims seem to experience symptoms similar to withdrawal over the course of the new few days. Luckily the symptoms will pass within a week, leaving the people back to normal. Still... was someone trying to make these love potions addictive?
Investigations of the source of the love potions will lead to an abandoned warehouse in the Warehouse district. It's a small operation, run by drug pushing thugs that just happen to have some supernatural powers. How they will go about dealing with these guys will be up to the Black Order Guardians. However should they investigate the warehouse, they won't find any sign that the love potion was produced there- it was shipped in from somewhere else.
[OOC: As usual, the results of the Black Order mission will be left up to the Black Order team! Characters not part of the black order can also take part in this plot, though the investigation and the fate of the thugs will be left up to TBO players]
Black Order Mission Results
(As discussed between mods and TBO players)
When the team reaches the warehouse, they are able to apprehend the potion sellers. They will interrogate with legal methods, using a good-cop, bad-cop method. Xie Lian will be a good cop but fail to persuade them. Wriothesley and Ayato will take on the role of bad cop and succeed in scaring the crap out of some of the potion sellers.
From this, they will learn that they heard the potion was devised by a person who goes by the name "H". Unfortunately, they won't get much more information than that, as one of the potion sellers will panic will decide it's better to resist than give up information to the Black Order. He will take a clear potion (the love potions are pink) from his coat pocket and chug it. This causes him to go berserk and fully lose himself to his monster side (which unfortunately, is a flame bear that is now much larger than normal). He will attack the Order, and a few other of the potion sellers will see this chaos as a chance to try to escape -- or to try to fight off the guardians.
When the dust settles, several of the potion sellers are now dead. The rest of them are really freaked out and opt to go quietly into custody. The team will decide to take a few samples of the Love potion to send to the order to analyze, before burning the place down.
Red Strings of LoveAt the start of February, those who are connected to the Greek Pantheon (either by being a member or possessed by one), will be treated to a video message from the mysterious number 696-6969. Should you open it, you'll be treated to a full body video of Cupid in all his naked glory. He is completely unfazed by this as he delivers a quick message:
Hey Fam! Heard a bunch of you had moved to Kaisou, so thought I'd say hi. I'd love to drop in and visit for awhile, but as you know I'm totally swamped this time of year. You know, with the whole holiday about me and everything!
So thanks to Aunt Persie and the others in your town, my staff are back to work and more motivated than ever! Thanks so much with that help. Anyway, they wanted to test a new product and felt that Kaisou would be the PERFECT place to do it. So don't be surprised if you see some strings pop up around town- they're totally harmless, swear! You just gotta be emotionally honest if you want them to go away, so if one of you could let people know that if they start panicking- that'd be great.
I gotta run. Happy Valentine's day! Oh, and mom sends her love too- as always, ha. And Uncle D? Love the new arm candy you got, talk about a 10/10, rawr!
Oh oh, and Polly? I heard you sucked at archery again- you're never gonna hit a poor guy in his heel again at this rate. Never knew you had a thing for fishermen though, Uncle Po-Po would be delighted!
Byeeee! Love to you all!
Everyone else in the city will not receive such a message. Which means you have no warning to what's to come... but also you were spared having to stare at Cupid's dick. So, maybe you're the lucky ones after all.
Sure enough, around the city, if you're spending time with someone, you have a chance to have a string appear on your wrists that will tie the two of you together. The color of the string will depend on your relationship with the person: red (romantic), pink (friendship), white (family), orange (rivalry), or candy stripped for the very complicated relationships.
These strings can not be untied or removed by hand. The only way to get rid of them is to be emotionally honest with your feelings towards the other. If both of you manage to vocalize your true feelings for each other, the string will disappear and you'll be free. However if you try to lie or deny? The strings will both tighten and increase - until you two are virtually tied together.
Looks like it's time to open up about your feelings!
The dominant element this month is Fire! 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 Wind 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.
The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. There will be a second log about the spirit realm event and a midmonth Zodiac posted on the 15th.
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"No, it's just...I messed up with a few friends," he says. "It's fine, we worked it out, I'm just—dealing with the aftershocks in my head, I guess. And then there's Sam and that crystal and whatever it's doing to him, too." He can't forget that, it's been weighing on his mind since Gil's post. "But it probably hasn't been as bad, for you," he adds.
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"It hasn't been as bad, no, but that was kind of the original point of this." You know, the whole spending an evening with a friend to hopefully give him a little bit of a break from all the everything. "But since that didn't really work out, would it help to talk about it?"
If he was still reeling from whatever it was, maybe it'd help get his thoughts in order. Or at least give him a chance to vent.
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He sighs.
"Right now I just want a hot dog," he says. Focus on the more important matter of solving their hunger issue first. "Afterward, we'll see how I'm feeling. But I promise, things are..."
Well, not fine.
"They're as okay as they're gonna get."
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But, right, hot dogs.
"Sure. Tell me what you want and I can pick them up."
That would raise fewer mistaken assumptions than both of them going to order together. And she'd even refrain from getting on his case about eating his veggies, for once.
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And while she's gone he'll just think about what he wants to say: the desperate need to get Sam that keycrest before it's too late, the guilt of keeping such huge secrets from his friends who love him, and the grief, always the grief, an old friend by now. He's learned to live with it, the wounds less fresh than they used to be, but—
It never completely goes away. It never did in his past life, but here he's...managing it. Sometimes poorly, but without the pressure of a destiny and a kingdom on his shoulders, he's actually doing a little better.
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It would be more than a little absurd to make a fuss over a few dollars and she knew it. So instead she went to place the order, and before long was back with a hot dog in each hand. One for Noctis exactly as he'd requested, and one for herself, that also included toppings like pickle and onion that doubtless her friend would turn his nose up at.
"Here. Promise I kept all the 'gross' toppings for myself."
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He's just going to chow down, silent for a good long while as he enjoys his hot dog, before he swallows and says, after a long moment, "Did your past life ever...have to give up something vital to her, for the greater good? Even knowing how much it would hurt not only her, but her friends? Do you ever still feel like that?"
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She knew when to choose her battles. But as for that question... Meredith had to think for a good moment on that. Partly just sifting through a lifetime's worth of memories, but also that her usual aversion to the whole matter meant it took a bit more effort.
"... I'm not sure it really compares to whatever you're thinking of, but I do know she never wanted to be queen. She did it to prevent her homeland from breaking down into infighting over succession, but it meant giving up whatever life plans she already had, taking on responsibilities she wasn't even fully prepared for. Her friends definitely had... concerns, about the toll it would take on her. Even if there was jack anyone could really do about it."
No big, earth-shattering sacrifices here, just a more mundane sort.
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"I don't think he ever thought he could be anything else," Noctis says, finally. "He had a taste of the normal life, but...even without a destiny weighing on him, I think he knew he was never going to be able to be just himself—kingship does that even in peacetime." He breathes out, and says, "And there were a lot of really complicated matters, but."
He's silent again, mulling it over in his head. When he next speaks, he's careful: "He had a few friends, good and deeply loyal friends he saw as brothers. And I miss them too, greatly, but I remember...there was a point where they looked at me, before I did what I needed to for the kingdom, and it felt like they were already at the funeral." He can't even blame them. The prophecy had been clear, after all: the King of Light had to die to bring back the dawn, and he'd gone to his death with open eyes.
Still. Still.
He doesn't want to inflict that kind of hurt on his loved ones again.
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Whether a king, a queen, ot just a manager at work. She was quiet for a few moments after Noctis finished speaking, though. Both reading between the lines of all he said, and considering how to respond.
"... Is it just that you don't like upsetting them, or that you don't want them to feel sorry for you, either? I've heard that sometimes the worst thing you can do for a friend with a terminal illness is feel sorry for them, when they might just want to make the most of things. And while you can't stop your friends from worrying at least a little, it's only fair... Are you worried they'd treat you as--I don't know, fragile or something?"
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He shrugs. "Not fragile, exactly," he says, and wryly adds, "Caleb would be the first person to laugh and tell you I'm not that fragile. But." He breathes out, and in the fading winter air, his breath can be seen as a puff of white vapor, before it dissipates into the wind. "Call it pride, I guess. Or call it—not wanting the people I love to grieve me while I'm alive."
He looks down at his half-eaten hot dog. "Did her friends ever look at her, maybe not that way, but something similar? Like they were already processing losing you to one thing or another."
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Funny thing, even being in charge of a few people or a small slice of things made a huge difference.
"I don't think it was anything to the degree you're talking about, but yeah, sort of. Maybe not losing so much as like... feeling sorry for her. Even though that probably made her feel worse. Even though it had still been her choice to make."
Meredith paused briefly, then continued.
"I get not wanting people to worry though. You shouldn't be just going and doing something stupid or reckless, but some things, some sacrifices, that's just what you choose for yourself. Heck, you probably don't know--well, you wouldn't, that's the point--but I was never planning to stay here. I got a job, was going to stick to it for oh, maybe a year or so, then start applying to other positions elsewhere. Both work my way up and get a chance to move and meet people at the same time. Who knows, there's a chance by now if I had I might've already been seeing someone, maybe even engaged.
"But I haven't done that. Who knows, maybe it wouldn't even work if I tried because of that app or something, but I haven't tried. I want to make sure some of the people I know are safe first. I just never mention it because, you know. I don't want anyone somehow thinking it's their fault, or treating me like I'm missing out on something. I knew what I was doing and that's just the choice I made, is all."
That was, doubtless, a lot of words. As well as confiding something she'd never told anyone before now but, well. Noctis was trusting her a lot to share what he had, it seemed both fair and right to return that, even if it was just to say he wasn't the only one who might feel that way.
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He doesn't have a destiny now, and neither of them have crowns and responsibilities that encompass a whole kingdom. But still. Still.
"So you made the choice to stay, knowing what you'd be shutting the door on. But you knew it would be worth it, or—at least you figured you'd be able to bear the cost." A breath. He nods, then, because yeah. He knows exactly how that feels.
"How are you doing now?"
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"Right, pretty much."
The stakes were much lower in her case--there was even a very good chance that she could still go back to her original plan, albeit delayed--but it was the same sort of feeling, at least. Just enough to have some understanding.
"Probably as well as I can be, considering. You know I'm not a fan of all this... everything," she doubtless had complained at him enough, "but it's not something I regret exactly, either. Or I suppose I should say, I'm pretty sure I'd regret not sticking around more."
Just because she'd chosen it didn't mean she had to like everything about it. A slightly less crappy choice was still crappy, in the end.