kaisou | April Event Log

April Event
Dominant Element: Earth
Waning Element: Water

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"April Showers brings May flowers", as the saying goes. As as it seems in Kaisou, the saying rings very much true. Throughout the month, routine rain showers will blanket the city. It's the type of rain that's not heavy enough to cause flooding, just heavy enough to make for puddles and soak anyone who forgets an umbrella. On days that it's not raining, the weather is warm and spring-like. Green is appearing on the trees in bright colors and the early spring flowers are in full bloom.

Springtime in Kaisou

After a long winter, spring is finally in full swing. Even amongst all the rain, Kaisou seems to be renewed with the kind of vigor you only find during springtime. Restaurants break out their outdoor seating during sunny days, and there's plenty of sidewalk sales from various shops. On the weekends, the Farmer's Market in Central Square has begun it's yearly operations. You should stop by for a visit if you want some fresh produce and artisan goods sold at reasonable prices. While most of the stuff there is of the mundane variety, you'll find a few merchants selling more paranormal related items such as supernatural plants (mandrake, lady's mantle, etc) and potions that are both fresher and cheaper than what you normally find in Undertown.

Out in the Entertainment District, a strange looking building has appeared called the Gold Saucer. It's a casino and amusement park, full of fun activities including shopping, casino games, an arcade, and chocobo racing- completely normal stuff! Meanwhile out in Kami State Park, a new hot springs has opened up! Come relax in the warm waters, take a spa day, and fully live out your anime dreams. Both of these attractions, while being brand new, are treated by locals like it's always been around. Rather curious, you have to say.

Meanwhile in Undertown, the surge in people new to the paranormal has caught notice. Starting in April, the Enki Education Center (or EEC) will open its doors! The EEC will offers classes on various supernatural topics such as basic spellworking, potionbrewing, enchantments, creatures of the Spirit Realm (taught by Professor Willow), how to make the most of your abilities, and Microsoft Excel. There are classes created to appeal to different basic age groups (child, teen, adult), and these classes can either be a one-time seminar to a multi-week course. Classes are either paid for with money (with potential discounted rates for low income folks), or with the exchange for items from the Spirit Realm.

The EEC isn't the only new spot in Undertown! Just outside of Undertown's entrance, there is a new Denny's! Or rather, you think it's new but everyone else seems to act like it's always been there. Strangely enough, you can't find it using any map or GPS-based apps and it's not listed on any websites. While inside the Denny's, all clocks are frozen at 2am. The menu has all the standard Denny's meals, but also have some more unusual dishes such as Apple Blood, pie you have to imagine to eat, and a dish made of worms. Curiously no time seems to pass while you're in the Denny's, so it might be a great spot to go if you need extra time.

Finally, near the Zodiac offices a new pet shop has opened up! Remember back in February when Zodiac asked you to bring them some Pokemon? Well it seems they figured out how to breed those Pokemon that were handed over. The pet shop is full of dog, cat, rodent, and bird Pokemon (not including any legendaries or fossils) that you can buy for a prize slightly higher than a normal pet. All these Pokemon are mostly depowered while in the city, and will have to learn how to use their powers properly while in the Spirit Realm as they've been bred in captivity. Aren't you guys glad to see your work pay off?

Egg Hunt

While Easter Egg hunts are normally reserved for children, it seems the Spirit Vein has other thoughts on the matter. Throughout the town, beautifully decorated eggs are scattered around in easy-to-spot hiding places. Under a bench, behind your coffee mug, in your mailbox - some of them may even be stashed in places that you're pretty sure no one else would have access to. Some of these eggs are normal hardboiled eggs, while others are made of wood and can be opened up. Inside these wooden eggs, you'll find one of three options: a piece of chocolate, a coin or bill of ANY currency that equates to about $1 USD in value, or a slip of paper that has a piece of information about another person on the app. This information could be public knowledge, a lesser known fact, or even a secret they've never told anyone. What you do with this information? It's entirely up to you.

The Dream of the Simple Life

On the night of April 12th, any character who sleeps will have the same dream. They will dream of a beautiful valley full of nature and small farms, but the dream is tinged with a sense of sadness - as if whatever is being shown here is long gone. In this dream, some strange looking creatures will speak to you. "We are the Junimos... Keepers of the forest. Please!" they say, "Please help restore our home!"

The following morning, April 13th, a new message from Zodiac is sent out

ALERT: POTENTIAL STABLE GATE IDENTIFIED IN CENTRAL SQUARE.
Element Classification: Earth
Danger Level: C
Designation: Stardew Valley
A new gate has been detected in Central Square Station. No reported hostility yet but there are some signs of dangerous elements. Foreign energy readings have been detected in the gate, causing it to destabilize. Zodiac request that you investigate and resolve the source of the destabilization. Durable work clothes are recommended.

The Zodiac Office is much calmer than last month. They explain that they too were contacted by the mysterious dream creatures. It seems this realm was once a peaceful nature realm, but something has caused it to fall out of balance. The researchers at Zodiac also have hope that if they are able to resolve the imbalance issue, they may be able to tether this realm to the city - allowing for the first stable gate in Kaisou. While they offer the usual weapons, they also offer a number of gardening tools. Strange! They will also note that just like the last realm, it seems time moves differently while in the realm. By their estimates, it's several days in that realm to an hour in Kaisou. In other words, don't worry too much about missing work. They also reassure that they've updated the Libra app to help keep better track.

Once you're all ready to go, it's off to Central Square Station, the train and subway station that's near the city hall of Kaisou. Standing on the east platform, a train that looks older than the other trains will pull up, with a destination sign of "STARDEW VALLEY". None of the normal people around you take any notice of the train, acting as if there's no train at all. Getting onto the passenger car, the train whistle will blow and the train will set off. A few minutes into the ride, you'll find yourself nodding off. Don't sleep? You'll either zone out or just black out.

When you wake up, you're no longer on the train but rather in the bed of a very small and old farm house, except three more beds have also been crammed into this tiny house - meaning you'll be sharing a place with up to four other people. There's also a small bathroom attached, with only a toilet and a sink. Any stuff that you brought with you has been carefully set on the table. There's an old TV that works, but only has three working channels: a weather channel, a fortune telling channel that'll give a personal horoscope for the day, and a channel that's all about giving farming tips and cooking recipes. On the table next to any stuff you brought, there's a to-do list that reads:

Clear farmland

Plant new crops

Harvest new crops

Cleanse the land

Restore the town

Restore the train station

Stepping out of this home, you'll find the house sits on a farm that's been overgrown with weeds, rocks, and trees. Scattered across the farmland are other farm houses as well, where other people who arrived on the train with you have been housed. This is the farmland that was meant to be cleared, so it's best to roll up your sleeves and get to work! Work together to pull up weeds, break stones, and cut down trees. For anyone who didn't bring tools, there's two boxes outside their farmhouse. The first one holds tools: a shovel, a pick, an axe, a scythe, a hoe, a fishing pole, and a watering can that can be refilled in the pond on the farm. The second box contains a bunch of plant seeds for spring growing: parsnips, potatoes, garlic, coffee beans, green beans, strawberries, rhubarb, kale, and tulips.

Once enough farmland has been cleared, it's time to get to planting. While having gardening knowledge certainly helps doing this, farming in this realm seems a lot easier. Till the land, spread some seeds, and water of them is all that needs to happen. Just a few days of watering will all the plants need before they're ready to be harvested (though you may have to fight off crows from eating them). That said, all of this can be rather tiring work, so you'll have to watch your energy levels to make sure you don't collapse. If you do collapse, you'll wake up back in the bed you woke up in. If anyone is around to witness your collapse, they will watch a group of Junimos appear and work together to haul the unconscious body back into the farmhouse before disappearing again. Nice fellows! Anyone who stays up too late in this realm will experience the same thing. Whenever 2am rolls around in the realm? Everyone that hasn't gone to bed will immediately collapse and wake up the next morning at 6am in their bed.

That said, you'll also need to eat as time passes in the realm. This might be difficult, as there's no real kitchen in your farmhouses. The advice show on the tv will give tips on how to forage tree seeds (such as pine cones, acorns and maple seeds) and spring foraging items. But don't worry, they'll show you how to make a field snack out of all those tree seeds you foraged (the taste is...acquired). You can attempt to fish from the pond on the farmland, but besides the tiniest of fish you're more likely to fish out garbage and unopened Joja Cola cans - which tastes basically like an off-brand coca-cola. If you got hunting skills and brought your own weapons, you might be able to hunt squirrels and rabbits - just be sure to cook them over a campfire first. Basically, you're going to be roughing it those first few days.

True to Zodiac's word, a new feature can be found on the Libra app. The feature is two clocks: one that tracks the time in Kaisou and one that tracks time in the Realm. Sure enough, every day that passes in the realm is no more than 20 minutes in Kaisou.

Exploring the Valley

There's no viable way out of the realm on the farm, so you'll have to explore. The valley layout can be divided into three sections from the farm: Cindersap forest to the south, the mountain to the north, and Pelican Town to the east. However no matter which direction you go, you'll quickly notice that there's something very wrong with this realm: black and red cursed spots span across the land- sapping the color and life out of anything near them. Any living creature has either been turned to stone or mutated into monstrous versions of themselves. Likewise, directly touching any cursed spots will cause a great amount of pain and weakness through your body. This must be the foreign energy reading the Zodiac post spoke of. It'll need to be cleansed if you want this realm to turn to its former state.

Cindersap Forest: Marnie's Farm and Wizard Tower

Cindersap Forest was once a beautiful forest, full of trees great for lumber and complete with a river and lake that were once great fishing spots. There are two sources of the curse in the cindersap forest: Marnie's Ranch on the east side and the wizard tower in the west side. Marnie's Ranch has been overrun with the livestock, that have been cursed to walk on two legs and carry weapons, attacking anyone that gets near! Great! You'll have to find a way to get past these violent farm animals and get inside the ranch house. In one of the bedrooms, the curse source will be found: a pair of purple boxer shorts. Just removing them from the ranch will be enough to undo the curse and make the animals return to being normal animals-- but maybe you want to burn them for good measure. Just maybe.

Meanwhile at the Wizard's Tower, the tower has been overrun with slimes. These slimes are easy to defeat on their own, but can become dangerous when they group up or if you aren't careful. The tower itself is full of spell glyphs, spellbooks, and a cauldron with an unknown potion brewing. Be careful not to knock into any of these or you might get cursed. Defeating every slime in the tower will cleanse the tower.

Once both Marnie's Ranch and the Wizard Tower are cleared, all of Cindersap Forest will return to its former glory! You can now get actual fish from the river and lake, forage for better food, or buy a hat at the hat shop run by a mouse in the southern part of the forest (as per usual for a forest). Back on the farm, a barn will appear that's full of livestock (cows, pigs, sheep, horses, goats), as well as a chicken coop (full of chickens, ducks, rabbits, and void chickens). There's a box in each building that contains anything you'd need to care for these animals, and these animals can be cared for and used to get different animal products (milk, eggs, wool, etc). There's even machines that can be used to make cheese or mayo. Nice!

The Mountains: Robin's Carpentry Shop and the Adventurer's Guild

The mountains on the northern side of the valley were once a great place to go hiking and mining, but you'll need to clear the curse if you want it to return to that. Like Cindersap forest, there are two cursed spots: the Carpentry shop to the west, and the Adventurer's Guild to the east. At the carpentry shop, the cursed item is an unassembled ikea loft bed that you'll have to assemble -- without any instructions.

If you're not up to the challenge, the Adventurer's Guild has been overrun with skeletons to fight. Fight the skeletons, and that'll remove the curse. Much easier, right?

Once both challenges have been completed, the curse on the mountains will be lifted and you'll be free to explore. The mine is currently closed at this time, so you'll have to return to that later. However there's plenty to mine in the quarry and another fishing spot for all you fish enthusiasts. Meanwhile back on the farm, all the farmhouses will be upgraded so they will have a kitchen to actually cook things and a personal bedroom for everyone.

Pelican Town: Stardrop Saloon

A quiet rural town that too has been overtaken by the curse. In the town, there are several sources of the curse, one for each building. However before you can start to figure out where to start, your character will hear a male voice whisper in their ear to stop by the Saloon.

In the Stardrop Saloon, you'll find a mysterious man. He's a very charming and friendly man, but he does not give his name and simply states that he came to visit to have some of the fine liquor this realm offers, only to find it in such an dreadful state. Seeing that you're here to help, he says he has the perfect suggestion: a party to liven things up around here. And so you'll be invited to drink, dance, and party with this mysterious stranger. And what a party it is! With a snap of his finger, there's an endless supply of wine (juice for you any unable to drink alcohol) and party food. Musicians appear in the corner, ready to play any kind of music throughout the night. The air itself has a festive feeling to it, as if just being around this stranger causes you to get into the party mood. Characters will feel themselves loosen up, being more willing to get into the party mood and maybe say or do some things they normally wouldn't have to nerve to. Sing songs, play games, dance, tell great tales- just have the best time you can have! The night you spend partying with the stranger will be the only night that you can stay up past 2am, since what's a good party if it doesn't last until dawn?

While the stranger is happy to talk, flirt and tell stories (usually fun legends he's learned through the ages) - he'll evade any questions about himself or what he knows about the Spirit Realm. However, anyone who is possessed by a god who chats him up will have a sense that there's something familiar with about him. If he catches your staring, he'll give a wink and say "So you're with them huh? Haha, well then! Tell your patron sometime that ol' D says hello.". He does not elaborate further.

The next day you'll wake up either back in your farmhouse or wherever you passed out during the party. No matter how much you drunk, you don't have a hangover. Pelican Town is fully restored, with all the cursed spots resolved, but the mysterious stranger is nowhere to be found. With the town restored, you can now shop at the various shops. Not only that, but you can sell anything you make on the farm for money. Not bad!

Aftermath

Talking to all the townspeople who are now unfrozen will reveal that they are normal townspeople who don't seem to have much sense of what's life like outside their valley. They also only vaguely recall the curse as a bad storm. If you haven't destroyed those purple shorts, you'll find that they belong to the old mayor Lewis, who left his lucky shorts by accident after an, ahem, evening with the Ranch owner Marnie.

I warned you you should've burned those shorts.

Once every region of the Valley is cleansed, the Junomino will appear on the farm to thank everyone! They will inform you that they've repaired the train that'll take them back to Kaisou. While there's still more work that needs to be done in the valley, that can wait for another time. The train station can be found up in the mountains, north of the Carpentry shop. Riding the train will return everyone back to Kaisou, safe and sound. If you had to the Zodiac office, they'll be extremely pleased at your efforts and reward you with money. They'll also inform you that this particular gate has been successfully tethered- meaning Stardew Valley will always be a place you can return to, should you ever want to revisit the simple life.

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is earth! Anyone with an affinity to the fire 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 water 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.

Regarding housing of the farmhouses, whoever you share a farmhouse with is up to you! There are a maximum of four occupants per house. However for the sake of building CR, only one of your roommates can be someone your character resides with back in Kaisou. If you want a random pair up, please comment to the roommate finder on the OOC plotting. If you rather not find a roommate and handwave them being somewhere in the farm, you can do that too! It's purely optional.

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! The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Bruno has been trying to pull up some weeds - but given he's small and skinny and weighs as much as a wet paper towel, he's really not doing so well at it. Still, he doesn't want Luisa to push herself into the workhorse pigeonhole she exists in back home, so he raises one hand to wave her off.]

No, no no. I'm- [he pants a little, getting back to tugging ] foooo, I'm good. I got it.

[He does not got it. ]

[ Luisa hesitates as she watches her tío for a moment. She is trying to be better about not jumping in all the time, but...she doesn't want to see him struggle either. ]

Are...you sure? I don't mind.

I'm sure! It's just stubborn is all.

[He's not getting a lot of traction on the ground, as his little feet scrabble in the first to get purchase.

Luckily, Bruno is a little less stubborn than the weed in question and eventually stops before he does his back in. He huffs out a breath.]

...Okay, maybe I need a tiny bit of help.

[ With a smile, Luisa nods and shifts the bundle of branches she's holding so they wouldn't fall as she bends down. She gives the weed a sharp tug, and it comes up easily. ]

Here we go. [ Rising back to her full height, she holds up the weed. ] Sometimes if they're really stuck in the ground, you can try loosening the soil around them to see if that helps pulling them up.

[Look at that, she exerted zero effort! He's sure he's put his back out for at least a day.]

Uh, really? [He genuinely has no idea- this is more Luisa's wheelhouse than his.] I never thought about that- good call, Kid! I'll remember that, seeing as we seem to have a lot of farmwork in the agenda right now.

[ Luisa can't help a bright smile, glad to have been able to help even in just a little way. ]

Yeah, there really is a lot of land around here, huh? [ She isn't entirely surprised, since this seemed to be the only farm for the whole town. But she can't help wondering how the lands got so overgrown in the first place.

Not that she really minds. This kind of work is at least familiar to her, and something she knows she can do. ]

[One day he will figure out a way to get her to help him that doesn't involve her muscles, one day! And then he'll feel a lot better about asking for it. ]

There is! Lots to uh...farm and stuff? It's almost like they were waiting for all of us to show up and get it cleared.

[He taps the side of his nose.]

Kinda suspicious if you ask me.

[ She doesn't really mind, especially since if it's using her muscles it's something she knows she can do. Probably.

She can't help frowning a little in thought when he says that, though. ] Huh...I didn't think about that. [ And now that he's said it, it does seem a bit odd. ] Maybe they were just waiting for a big enough group to come help?

[Sorry, Luisa, he just doesn't trust people.]

Maybe. And I guess they're being...nice so far? But we should be on our guard anyway- just in case.

[ Given everything, she can hardly blame him, which is why she nods. ] Right. I'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

[ She honestly hopes that there isn't anything to worry about here, but if there is...well, still gotta protect the family. ]

I know I can count on you. Just make sure to not handle it all alone, okay?

[He's always going to try his best to make sure she doesn't keep trying to put everything on her shoulders, after all.]

We'll work it out together, mi sobrina.

[ It's still kind of strange, to be honest. She had been so used to doing everything on her own for a while, so it was still taking some time getting used to the idea that she didn't have to do that anymore.

But then, she also wanted Bruno to know that he wasn't alone either. So if she wanted to be there for him, then she had to be better about accepting the other way too. ]

Yeah...okay. We'll do this together.

[It's crazy it's taken this long to realise the family genuinely are stronger together, but at least they've finally got here. That's what's important, he thinks. ]

Great! So! [He pushes up his ruana a bit like he's rolling up his sleeves- it tumbles back to place immediately, of course, making the pantomime a bit pointless. He's trying. ]

Let's get to some weeding!

[ She nods with a grin, though the glint of something does catch the corner of her eye. As she looks, she spots a hoe that someone had left nearby. ]

Oh yeah, okay! Hang on. [ Going to retrieve the tool, she quickly returns and holds it out to him. ] Here. This'll help with breaking up the dirt around them.

[He'll take it, smiling a little as he raises it like it's a sword. ]

Thanks, kiddo! This might mean your poor old tío won't break his back!

[ She grins a little, and gives a small laugh. ] Definitely wouldn't want that to happen.

[ She likes her tío in one piece, thanks.

Then, maybe because the way he's holding it is kind of silly, she's feeling a bit silly too. So she stands in a dramatic pose, one hand on her hip while the other points out towards the field. ]

Onward!

[ ...is...she doing this right? ]

It would be a tragedy and your mamí would pull that face she pulls when one of us gets hurt doing something stupid. You know the face.

[Just in case she didn't (she so would) he does a close approximation of Julieta's poor exasperated expression- usually when Agustín has been stung by bees.

Sometimes, sometimes you've just got to be a bit silly. It's important! He laughs, waving his rake.]

TO GLORY!!!

[ Luisa can't help a laugh. She has definitely seen that face before, usually aimed at her Papí, but she's been on the receiving end of it a few times.

She brightens when Bruno joins her, and with another laugh she starts heading out onto the field. ]

The weeds shall be VANQUISHED!

April Event Log

Clearing the Land

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