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July Event Log

July Event
Dominant Element: Water
Waning Element: Fire
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Summertime in the city continues! Throughout the month, the daytime hours will be scorching hot. Not only that, but due to the water element being in effect- everything will be miserably humid, making everything feel much worse. Make sure to dress for hot weather, or hide yourself away in an air conditioned building. The nights will be cooler and give some reprieve, but even then the humidity will be sticking around. About once a week, the city will experience a heavy thunderstorm. More on those in a bit!

As June ends and July begins, the Pride flags are put away for an absurd amount of red, white and blue ones. Like any American city this time of year, Kaisou has plenty to do for the national holiday. All over the city you will see the classic red, white and blue. Blue Fish Lake Park is having a summer block party to celebrate the holiday. You can go there to hear some live music or play some games like cornhole (where you stand at a distance and try to throw beanbags into the hole), three-legged races, or tug-of-war. There's also plenty of delicious grilled and barbequed food to be had, such as hamburgers, ribs, shish kabobs, potato salad, shaved ice, and of course the coveted mac and cheese.
If you're truly brave enough, there's a chili cooking competition you can enter. Just about every other entry comes from an ancient secret family recipe and they are insistent it is the best. At some point, the competition will get so heated a large fist fight will break out over whether beans should be in chili. The goose will attempt to knock over your pot of chili before it can be judged. There are tears shed. You suspect the grand prize winner bribed the judges. Regardless of your behavior, you manage to make several enemies.
Of course, no Fourth of July is complete without fireworks. And boy, are there fireworks. So. Many. Fireworks. The city will have its grand firework show over Blue Fish Lake, which is an impressive and professional display of pyrotechnics. But the fireworks don't end with just the professional show, as there's plenty of private residents playing with their own sets of explosives. While Kaisou has some laws on the books about many types of fireworks being banned, it's obvious that a lot of people completely ignore that law. Smaller fireworks and sparklers can be purchased in normal stores, while the bigger grade stuff can be found in more shady shops. Some vendors in Undertown will even sell enchanted fireworks that'll do more specialized imagery and movements than normal fireworks. Grab some fireworks to blow stuff up for freedom yourself, or find some earplugs - it's gonna be a loud weekend.
Stardew Valley and the Kanto regions can still be visited throughout the month, though there isn't anything new going on with them. Still, sometimes it's nice to retread some familiar ground.

With the spirit vein's summertime shift to the water element comes Kaisou's infamous storm season. About once a week, Kaisou will be hit by a heavy thunderstorm. Shortly before a storm arrives, storm sirens (warning: loud alarm sound) will sound off to warn citizens of potential danger. From there, characters will have a few precious minutes to seek shelter if they decide to do so.
True to their name, these storms will feature constant heavy lightning that can strike you if you aren't careful. Sudden heavy downpours will immediately soak anyone still outside and cause flooding in some areas and basements. Be careful not to drive into any standing water on the roads, as some flooding spots can get deep enough to submerge a car. While there's thankfully no tornadoes this year, there are strong straight line winds that can get up to 100mph, meaning they're strong enough to knock over trees, throw around lawn furniture, and damage the sides of buildings. And if all that wasn't enough, there's baseball-sized hail that'll easily take out a car window or cause some serious damage if it hits you.
These storms will only last a few hours, but they can cause plenty of damage. Power outages caused by down powerlines are common, causing blackouts in numerous neighborhoods from several hours to a full day before the lights come back on. The Zodiac building where otherworlders stay will also be susceptible to these blackouts, and anyone who decided to take the elevator during a storm will find themselves stuck in there for a half-day. Beyond that, there's plenty of volunteer and odd job opportunities focused around cleaning up fallen branches and other debris.

On the morning of July 8th, Zodiac will send out an alert:
ALERT: SHIFTING GATE LOCATED ON KAISOU BEACH.
Element Classification: Water
Danger Level: Low on the mainland, high on the sea
Designation: El Nido
A new gate has been detected off Kaisou Beach. Initial scouting reports that the mainland is a peaceful beach resort, with plenty of amenities and less humidity. There are rumors of more dangerous elements should you take a boat and sail away from the mainland. Zodiac is unable to confirm what those dangers may be, so take precautions should you decide to do so. Zodiac is not liable for any injuries or deaths that may occur if you leave the mainland.
That said, Zodiac will provide compensation for any investigation reports or valuable items obtained in the realm.
If you swing by the Zodiac Headquarters, the mood of the office is rather relaxed. Some of the staff are talking amongst themselves visiting the realm to get a free vacation - it's not often you get a realm with few things trying to eat your face! If you ask about what happens if you leave the mainland of this realm, they will say that reports are full of untold dangers and bad luck. But what else can you expect from a high sea adventure? Professor Willow doesn't have much to offer, other than speculating if there's sea monsters in the water. Mostly he's occupied with data he's been gathering from the Kanto Realm. Seems pokemon are his first and always love. But as usual, you'll be able to rent out weapons and equipment from Zodiac.
The gate is a hard one to miss. While Kaisou Beach is packed this time of year with regular folks that are trying to cool off in the summer heat, off to the side there is a very noticeable rock formation that wasn't there before. The passage underneath the arch glows a tropical blue color and seems very inviting. Sure enough, that must be the gate. The normal people on the beach don't seem to notice its presence in the slightest, and it should be easy enough to slip past them to head into the realm.

Upon entering the gate, you'll find yourself on a white sandy beach. While it's still warm, it's not the stifling humid heat that blankets the city. Instead, it's an ideal summer temperature, perfect beach weather. The skies and oceans are both an intense blue, the kinds of shades you see on postcards, with white fluffy clouds on the distance horizon of the ocean. Something about the entire scene already feels like a wondrous reprieve compared to previous realms.
As you walk along the beach, you'll come across a village resort. Rather than humans, the village is populated primarily by anthropomorphic birds of various types that are no bigger than waist size compared to a full grown adult. They welcome the visitors warmly, with happy chirps amid their words. They're used to humans visiting their place, so they have set up human sized lodging for people separate from their village to stay if they like. Payment wise they don't ask for much, mostly just things like birdseed, fruit, small rodents, interesting sticks, and other things birds enjoy. Overall they're a friendly and kind flock of birds, mostly interested in making sure your stay is a great one. However, if you do anything to mistreat the birds- you will quickly find yourself being swooped at and attacked by multiple birds.
The lodging is what you'd expect from an idyllic beach vacation. Despite this place being run by a bunch of small bird people, the human rooms are surprisingly modern, with proper indoor plumbing and electricity. There's a restaurant with all sorts of delicious tropical dishes and drinks (no bird meat though) and you can get room service for some extra birdseed. It's an extremely comfortable stay with varying room sizes, though due to the number of people visiting, some of you may end up getting roomed with another person. Or two.
As for activities, there's plenty you can do. You can go swimming in the ocean, even borrowing scuba gear so you can do some scuba diving and check out the gorgeous coral reefs around the island. You can go hiking and survey the breathtaking flora and fauna the land has to offer. You can stay close to the resort and treat yourself to a spa day by getting a relaxing bird-given massage or sitting in a hot tub. And don't forget fun beach games, like playing volleyball or making sandcastles. Or if you venture a little farther, you will find an amusement park situated on a pier over the ocean. You can ride the Ferris Wheel or the small roller coaster, eat carnival food (again, no bird meat), or play carnival games for fun prizes such as stuffed animals or t-shirts.
This is truly an idyllic, wondrous vacation. For once, you guys are getting nice things!

Too bad some of you refuse to just have nice things huh.
While you're staying in the resort, you may hear rumors floating among some of the birds, especially if you ask what lies beyond their island. They will say there's rumors that there's amazing treasure out there, if anyone is brave and strong enough to seek it out. However, if you press more about it, you'll find out that no one's actually ever returned from sailing out into the sea, so it's impossible to know if the rumors are true or not. They do try to caution you that it is very dangerous to go out there. Also, to try to avoid the pirate ship that sits on their shore, because obviously a pirate ship must have dangerous pirates aboard.
There's only one way to find out, right? As luck will have it, if you wander past the amusement park, you'll find a seafaring vessel next to a dock. It's a large pirate ship, one that is surely large enough to sail out on the ocean. It's the ship that the locals told you to stay away from, but surely it wouldn't hurt to have a look right? Characters who are 15 years or younger will find themselves unable to board unless they're accompanied by another older character - which also might be a telling sign. If you go on the pirate ship, the ship is somehow fully stocked and ready to go on an adventure, despite no clear sign of any crew. In the captain's quarters, there's a treasure map with a route that'll take them to some marked treasure as well as a small chest full of golden coins and gems. Below deck, they will find that there is plenty of food and drink to be had, as well as an entire wardrobe full of classic pirate clothes.
But be warned, trying to take anything from the ship will seal their fate. As they do so, they'll feel a burning sensation somewhere on their body as a skull-and-crossbones tattoo appears. They will also now be magically unable to leave the ship. After about 12 hours from the first person to try to take something, the ship will begin to set sail out into the ocean that so many people tried to warn you about. Looks like you signed up for a pirate adventure, whether you wanted to or not.

The pirate ship voyage will last about a week. Characters with the pirate mark will be forced to see it through to the end, even if they attempt to teleport out of there. The ship is enchanted to run itself, but there's books and guides in the Captain's quarters to teach how to run a ship in case you don't trust the ships autopilot. It might be wise to read up on that. Characters can still connect to the Libra network, but any other internet access will be cut off. Also you should take care not to waste your battery - as there's no electricity on the boat.
The trip will play out as followed:
Day 1: Smooth sailing! Characters will have time to adjust to their new sea life.
Day 2: The characters will make landfall on their first island. It's a barren dessert island, full of caves and quicksand. Near the shore, they will hear the call of sirens (img cw: nipples). These siren songs will be alluring to anyone who are attracted to women, making them fall into a trance. If you get too close to the sirens, they will attempt to drown and eat them.
Day 3: More sailing! The sailing is going through some choppy waters, with fog causing the visibility to get worse and worse. Halfway through the day a ghost ship tries to attack yours with cannon balls. Work together and fight them off before they sink you to the bottom of the ocean.
Day 4: You arrive at an island covered in bones. As in there are bones everywhere. Of course, there are many living skeletons here who will come out of the bone piles and try to murder you.
Day 5: It's smooth sailing until late into the day, when a kraken appears and tries to take down the ship. You can try to fight it off to buy time for other crew to make it to the lifeboats, but the sheer size and strength of the beast will eventually prevail- snapping the ship in half and dragging it down into the ocean. Try your best to survive by grabbing a lifeboat or using some ship debris to float.
Day 6: By morning, the now-shipless crew will wash up onto the shores of a new island. Unlike the last two islands, this is a tropical island that's full of life. It's the island that the treasure marked to have the treasure. Spend your day trying to gather what you lost and recovering. Traveling around the island is impossible to do all in one day. They will get halfway around before they need to camp for the night. You'll also have to be mindful of food and water, as all of that was lost with the ship.
Day 7: On the final day, they will finally make it to the other side of island and the spot of the treasure. Luckily there's some shovels nearby. Do some digging and they will unearth a treasure chest. Inside, there's various types of fine jewelry that is enchanted to give the wearer underwater breathing, and plenty of gold that when split among the crew - will give them each about $500 worth. There is also another ship on the shore here, one that looks just like the one you lost. This ship will sail once everyone is aboard, and take them back to the mainland by morning.
Those who were on the pirate adventure will find themselves returning safely to the resort. The bird people will be thrilled of their return and excited to hear of their stories. The tattoos appeared may begin to fade once the adventure is over, freeing them from the curse. Or if you rather, they can keep the tattoo on them for the memory.
The resort itself will be open for any and all visitors until the end of the month. Zodiac as well will be happy to pay you in compensation for any items you bring them. All ends that ends well, it seems.
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.
This event is meant to be a low-key fun event! Have your character go on a very dangerous pirate adventure, or just relax in the resort! Anyone who goes on the pirate adventure will get a piece of jewelry that lets them breath underwater, and $500. Totally worth that level of danger right? Totally....
The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here.
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She just...jumped over the edge. And she's swimming toward the sirens which, while he thinks their singing is nice, it's definitely not 'jump into the water' worthy, especially not with how badly humans swim. And this is in the middle of the ocean! With strong currents and tides and...
"Luz! Get back here!"
If he jumps after her, he can save her easily. But...if he jumps in, he'll reveal what he is. The secret will be out. It doesn't matter, he decides. He's not going to let Luz drown, and she's clearly not coming back so that's probably what will happen if he lets this go. If she's disgusted with him once she sees how he really looks...well, then it is what it is. And so he goes to the edge of the boat and jumps in after her, the water instantly transforming him to his sea monster form as he swims after her, grabbing her to try and drag her back to the ship.
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Or it WOULD have been if Luz suddenly didn't feel a pull at her legs, and even in this tranced state, she looked back to see what was trying to keep her from her goal. Seeing Luca gave the girl pause, because now she was trying to connect the dots, and this temporary stall in victory made the sirens pretty agitated. Now they were attempting to sing even louder, to hopefully sway Luz, who was still in a state of confusion.
"L-luca? Is that you?"
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His brain freezes when she identifies who he is, wondering what he should say. And so he, in a last ditch effort to keep his secret, lies.
"Nope! No idea who that is!"
In a voice that is clearly Luca's. One of the sirens, confused when she sees that the individual trying to keep their meal from them is a fish child, slides off the rock she's sitting on and swims closer.
"What are you doing, child?" the siren asks. "Let us have the girl."
"No!" Luca insists. "She's my friend!"
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And her eyes are starting to get unclouded, and she's staring in horror at the sirens. Not because of their appearance (she could totally blush about that later because, well, PERIL right now) but because her brain clicks the moment she hears the let us have the girl part.
"Wait, what am I doing in the water? Is this a Siren situation? The heck?! I'm a girl, that shouldn't work on me!"
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He really doesn't know how sirens or any of this works, but then he decides with one of the sirens swimming closer there's no time to ask about that.
"Luz, I swim faster than you. Hold on so I can get you back to the ship!"
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"Because I'm a girl and normally it attracts men and stuff but anyways, yup, attaching myself to you, let's get going!"
Luz was not about to be lunch at the bottom the sea, thank you!
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"Hurry up and get back on the ship!"
And he definitely wants her to go before he does, because he has the feeling Luz is in far more danger than he is.
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Or was it that he was a fish guy who happened to change into a human being?
In any case, once Luz sees the rope she moved towards it with no hesitation even as she's starting to hear the sirens starting with their singing again. With Luca's help she hoists herself aboard again, soaked to the skin and feeling her body trembling.
"Need...blocking...for ears!"
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Or maybe she could just cover her hears with her hands, he doesn't know. What he does know, though, as he gets close to climbing on board, is that he has to be careful.
"I can't let anyone see me like this!"
She might remember their conversation about Hunter, how Luca said that if he was among people his mother had told him were evil, he'd try to disguise himself to blend in and be completely terrified if they found out what he was. Or she might not, the sirens were a pretty big distraction right now.
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Luz's eyes wandered over to Luca, and she could just barely hear him, not that she absolutely needed to because he was, after all, still very noticeably in his fish...guise?
"Right!" Luz threw herself in front of Luca and threw up a light glyph to blind the shipmates for a time. She pulled out the pieces of her shirt.
"How do you, uh, change back?"
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He then shakes himself off like a dog, flinging the water off his body until the scales begin to recede and he transforms back into his human form.
"Thank you," he whispers, meaning for the blinding light glyph that let him come up without being seen. "I don't want anyone to know."
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She got her answer pretty quickly once he shook off the water. Phew! No awkwardness there!
"I think I understand. Have you always been this way, or did it happen because of this place?"
Luz was inclined to think the former, because Luca hadn't even been here that long!
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It's just a good thing he had been human before he showed up here, or this would have been way too much for him to handle. Or maybe she was asking if he had always been a sea monster, but he supposes his answer answered that question, too.
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Luz shook her head, and she was actually giggling now. No wonder he made those small comments about humans! It all made sense now!
"I gotta say, as far as secrets go, that's a pretty big one, and a risky one too, coming here! Thanks, by the way, for making sure I wasn't fish food! Man, I still wish I knew why I was affected but you weren't though."
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Oops. But there was really no way to avoid it because he wasn't going to let Luz get killed.
"I know, but I heard one of the Zodiac guys saying something about sea monsters, and I was worried if there were sea monsters people would try to hunt them so I had to come to make sure no one tried to kill them!"
And, of course, he wanted to meet the sea monsters of this world.
"And it probably affected you and not me because you're human and I'm sea folk."
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In fact, Luz looked relieved that she didn't have to act like the stuff Alberto said wasn't a little crazy.
"I think we should be more worried about them hurting us! Well, me anyway."
Humans? Or was there something specific?
"I don't know. Is it more of a human thing? In these kinds of stories, its usually sailors, or men anyway."
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That does make Luca feel a little better, knowing that Alberto was on the verge of discovery anyway. At least it's not like Luca foiled a perfect disguise.
"I mean, yeah, I guess they were definitely trying to hurt you. I mean, at least back home it's usually humans trying to harpoon us. I guess they...just...decided to turn that back on humans?"
Which isn't totally surprising? But he can see, considering how his mom talks about humans, things could definitely get to the point where sea folk were attacking humans back.
"I don't really know how it works. That's the first time I ever saw anything like that? But this is a completely different world from where I'm from, and I only saw my first human a little over a week before I got here, so even if any of us can hypnotize humans like that, I wouldn't know about it."
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"It didn't feel like that was the reason though. I mean, think about it. They're SINGING, I get entranced and try to go to them, and even though we didn't see what happens next, you could probably figure that out. They're not all muscley like that for no reason. Pretty sure they just kill us once we get close."
Or HER, anyway. And Luz was not going to look kindly on people who killed kids, human or otherwise.
"In folklore, at least the stuff I'VE read, they're called Sirens. They usually sing to get the sailor to come to them, and then they drown them. So I don't think its a thing that most sea creatures do. But enough about them! YOU are a sea person, right? How far deep can you go? Is it nice, down there?"
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But not everyone whose all muscley is luring people into the water. Or telling him to let them 'have them'. He sighs.
"I guess I was just kind of hoping that the first sea folk I met since coming here wouldn't turn out to be serial killers."
And part of him still wants an explanation for why they're trying to get humans to jump in the water, but he figure he can get that later. When there aren't any humans around to get drowned. But then Luz shifted the conversation to him.
"Um...well, I don't really know, I guess I can just keep going deeper forever? And...I guess? I mean, it depends on how deep you go. The part of the water I live in is okay. It gets kind of boring, though, herding fish all day and doing chores. And if you go too deep it gets dark and I've heard there's nothing to see or do down there? So I don't really want to go that deep."
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Luz was pretty sure they were going to kill her and was trying to be as casual about that as she could, because she knew several adults who would be flipping out in a panic if they'd seen that. For Luz, that was just another day.
"Hey, you'll have time to meet other sea folk, and I'm sure they'll be perfectly fine! Just like I'm sure if other people know that YOU are sea folk, they won't react as negatively as they did in your world! There are a lot of weird magical beings coming here, thanks to the Spirit Realm leaks, I think."
Yup, yup, not thinking about how she could have been drowned, thank you!
"That's so interesting! Then again, what we can do changes both our perspectives, right? For instance, you're sea folk so you can go deep underwater where I would be killed if I ever tried to get that low without a suit. I can use my staff to totally fly and take you with me! Of course, we can only go so high before the air pressure would start to hurt us, but still!"
Clearly someone is not at all perturbed that he is a sea person!
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It's just disappointing. When he'd heard there were sea monsters out here, he'd hoped he'd go on an adventure and meet someone else like him, not sirens that wanted to kill people. Then Luz says something that helps him perk up.
"Yeah! Maybe I'll meet some normal sea folk! And...I don't know. I mean, some people know and it's gone okay, but...I think we should probably be careful about who we tell and not tell everybody right away. Just in case."
Sure, it seems like it would be fine with how everyone has been so far, but Luca wants to be careful. Then she suggests flying on the staff together.
"Oh! I'd love to go flying! And maybe if we can find a way to make another flying staff, maybe I could take Alberto flying!"
Because the idea of being able to race through the sky with Alberto holding onto him for balance while they see the whole world from above just sounds perfect.
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"Yeah. like mermaids! Or actual talking fish, who knows? But yeah, you're probably right. I mean, you never know, the Spirit Realm might bring over an idiot that does hunting like that for a living. Not that we'd let them attempt anything like that here!"
Luz knew enough people that endangering the welfare of a child would earn a straight beat down from them personally.
"There got to be other ways to make a staff! I mean, I've seen Elliot with his, and there has to be, like, a magical blacksmith somewhere here OR in Kaisou, right?"
Luz doubted there'd be straight up Palistrom wood here, but what if that somehow DID happen?
"Oh, but I can at least help you with the flying part! Just let me know when and I'll give you a ride with me and Owlbert!"
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Because while talking fish would be cool at first, he knows the next time he wanted to eat fish he'd hesitate knowing that maybe this one could talk, too.
"Elliot's staff is magic, too? What does it do? Can he fly on it?" As for giving him a ride, "Yeah! I'd like that! Maybe when we get back, so we don't lose track of the ship."
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Luz would similarly have the same problem. She really did like sea food.
"He can perform magic with it, but I think he specifically said that he can't fly with it. I wonder though, if there are other ways to fly, if we can find an actual magical blacksmith?"
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It's too bad Elliot can't fly with his, but like she said, maybe Luca can find enough information to get his own magic staff that can fly.
"Maybe! I hope so!"
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