kaisou | September Event Log

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September Event Log

September Event
Dominant Element: Wind
Waning Element: Earth

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It's autumn at long last. The summer heat finally ebbs away with cooler temperatures, with the first trees starting to change to bright hues of autumn colors. These cooler temperatures are made even more noticeable by the constant wind that blows throughout the month. Windy days are something of a regular this month. Be prepared for gusts of wind to blow things away that aren't weighed down. The town itself is getting decked out for the season change. Halloween costume shops are starting to open up in empty buildings, and just about every location has some variant of pumpkin spice.

Back to School

With the arrival of fall comes the new school year. Starting September 1st, classes begin at all the schools across the city. Whether you're in elementary, middle school, high school, or at the university - it's time to start the term off on the right foot! The halls and classes are abuzz with students reuniting and talking about what they did during the summer. As expected, most of the students don't seem to remember that dinosaurs walked the earth last month - instead treating those events as bad storms or gas leaks. But there's only so much time to dwell on that, as you're likely more busy with trying to find all your classes and getting a good spot in the cafeteria at lunch.

For those kids who somehow aren't getting enough schooling and wants more, Kaisou High will be holding their annual Spelling Bee competition halfway through the month! Students will go against kids their own age and grade level and asked to spell difficult words appropriate for their age in front of an audience that are abnormally engaged spectators. The spelling bee also has tournaments for elementary, middle school, and college too, so it's open for all ages! There's nothing truly noteworthy about winning the Spelling Bee - just a ribbon, a coupon for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut, and an English teacher praising their accomplishments -- but sadly, we know for some of you this is more than enough of a prize, so best review how to spell "vicissitudes" just in case.

If you're an adult, or just looking for some education that covers topics not normally found at traditional school, the Enki Education center is launching their fall classes! You can enroll in these classes to learn more about magic, the Spirit Realm, and other related topics. The Enki Education Center is also proud to have their first puppet teacher! The Professor will be passionately teaching about various events in history, both the mundane and the paranormal. Professor Willow will also be continuing his lessons surrounding magical creatures and pokemon alike.

Up in the Air

With the winds being so strong this month, some have responded by doing some more daring hobbies. Throughout the month, a group is offering hang gliding lessons. This group has situated themselves up atop of Moghome, the floating island above the Kami State Park. They are trained professionals, and be happy to give anyone the ropes. Another group on the same island has also set up bungee jumping for anyone willing to take the plunge. Those those who are more physical minded than academic minded, this might be a great way to blow off some steam. You might want to be careful though, the moogles who live in Moghome might try to pull pranks on you, or at least try to get you to do work for them. They really are lazy and annoying guys.

Taking the train out to Stardew Valley you'll find the season has changed there as well. The trees are in full bright autumn colors and there's fall decorations such as jack-o-lanterns, haybales and scarecrows. It's almost an idyllic fall town, really. Pierre's shop is selling seeds for the autumn - pumpkins, cranberries, corn, yams and the like. If you head to the beach, while it's a bit too cold to swim, you might catch sight of a mermaid if you're patient. Fortunately, these guys are much more friendly than their siren cousins you met in July. While some will swim away at the sight of a human, some will come and chat.

If you want to be more productive and in ways that don't just benefit moogles, there's still clean up to be done from last month's disaster. Buildings that need to be repaired, streets repaved, debris to be picked up. It's a good way to get some volunteer hours in and help out your neighborhood. Every bit helps with getting the city back to normal.

Lost to the Muses

It'll happen with little fanfare. One morning in early September, characters with a creative streak will be struck with inspiration. Inspiration stronger and clearer than any inspiration strikes they've had before. Artists will paint or draw better than they have before, Musicians will think up a song destined to make the charts, cooks will develop new recipes, writers might actually write something-- the rush of inspiration and creative is truly miraculous.

However, there's a danger to this swell of miraculous inspiration. As characters indulge in this inspiration, they will find themselves forgetting other things. At first it'll be mild things, such as forgetting to eat dinner or the other tasks you had to do for the day. Things that are normal to forget when you're in the midst of the creative process, right? However if you keep going, the memory loss will grow more severe. You'll forget details about your life, or the names and faces of the people you know. And in truly worst case scenarios, the ones that truly can't pull themselves away, will find that they can't remember anything but the creative work they're working on. Just how much of yourself are you willing to give up in pursuit of creation?

The Muses

Within a week, it'll become pretty clear that something is amiss. And to confirm as such, on September 9th, Zodiac will send a message through the app.

ALERT: SHIFTING GATE LOCATED IN UNIVERSITY DISTRICT.
Element Classification: Wind
Danger Level: Low
Designation: The Great Library of Alexandria
A new gate has been detected in the University district. We have reason to believe it's the Great Library of Alexandria, the realm of knowledge. We also believe it's connected to the incidents of memory loss, and should be investigated further. Anyone who goes to the library must bring a piece of knowledge to donate.

Visiting the Zodiac Office, visitors will notice that Professor Willow isn't here for once. According to the Zodiac member, he and the other members of POKEGO have already gone off to see the realm themselves- as of course professors can't resist the draw of knowledge.

When asked about the realm, the Zodiac member will explain that it was a library that once existed on Earth in ancient times built in honor of the Muses, nine sister goddesses that together are the gods of creativity, literature, science, and the arts. However it was famously set ablaze and in order to save it, the Muses recreated it in the Spirit Realm. The Zodiac member is confident that there should be relative little danger about visiting the library provided you make sure to follow the rules of the library. However, they do caution to avoid requesting inspiration from the Muses, and you should definitely not try to challenge their skills.

To find the gate, one simply has to head out to Kaisou University's main campus. Among all the class buildings and libraries, there's a new building front that seems to have appeared. White columns and stone stairs are hardly unusual among a college campus so it might be easy to overlook, except that the entryway is glowing with an bright energy. No doubt about it, this is the gate.

The Great Library of Alexandria

Stepping through the gate, characters will find themselves in a grand marble hall that would put most to shame. Around the hall are statues of the nine muses, posing in different fashions with objects associated with each one. There are signs with the rules of the library. Even though it's written in Ancient Greek, you find yourself able to read what it says like it was perfect English:

I. Take nothing out of the Great Library, leave it all as you found it.
II. Damage nothing in these halls.
III. To obtain knowledge, you must share knowledge.

In the center of the hall is a pedestal that stands four feet tall. It is here that you place the knowledge that you've brought to share. Books, movies, comics, art pieces, fact sheets, personal notes - anything that could technically be considered either knowledge or art are accepted. Once you place your item on the pedestal, it will disappear and a bracelet made of olive tree wood will appear around their wrist. This is their proof that they are allowed entrance into the rest of the library. Anyone who tries to go into the halls without donating a piece of knowledge will find the entryways into the other wings magically blocked.

Once the admission fee has been paid, it's off to explore the rest of the library! There are several wings to explore, each of them chock full of knowledge. A person could easily spend a lifetime in a single wing and not see everything there is to offer. Even though it offers works written and created in countless languages, you'll find yourself able to understand all of them as if they were written in your native language. That said, any cameras will not work while within the hall, so if you want to remember the things you read- you'll have to take notes. Any character with fire magic will find their fire powers do not work while in this realm either - the library has a bad history with fire okay.

The wings are as followed:

The Literature Wing

This wing is devoted entirely to any work of literature that's ever been written. Novels, poems, short stories, comics, fables - anything that counts as a story would be found within this wing. There's even a section devoted to fanfictions throughout the ages, if that's what you're really about. There are braille and audiobooks with headphones, for those who get their reading through that way. Throughout the wing, there are comfortable chairs and window seats to sit in. The wing is managed by a legion of cats, who are clever enough to understand human language. They will carry books to and from their shelves, bring book recommendations, bring snacks and drinks as refreshments on a little push cart, or just curl up on your lap as you read.

The Knowledge Wing

Next to the Literature Wing, the Knowledge wing contains any non-fiction texts or documents that have ever been written. Any topic of non-fiction is covered here: history, science, mathematics, cookbooks - the list goes on. Interestingly, there are more than just books about this Earth found in these halls. It's possible to find textbooks detailing events or information about other worlds as well - so long as it covers events already taken place (meaning before any OU's canon point). Unlike the literature wing, the seating are set up more as study tables and chairs, but are still comfortable enough to sit in for hours on end. This wing is managed by a bunch of owls, who will fly up and down the aisles with books in their talons. You might happen across the Professor or Professor Willow in this wing of the library, surrounded with books of their preferred subject and rambling on to anyone who will listen.

The Music Wing

A wing designed to have perfect acoustics no matter where you go within the hall. Here you can find every music piece ever composed as well as any type of instrument ever created. There's plenty of practice rooms for any size group (all of which are soundproofed). In the back of the wing, there is a concert hall where you can either perform your own shows, or watch astral recordings of any concert that's ever taken place. Want to see Beethoven perform his famous 9th symphony? You can do that! All the musicians past will appear as ghostly apparitions as they perform. Songbirds are the maintainer of these halls, who will fly by on errands or maybe even stop by to sing along with your performances.

The Theatre Wing

Next to the music wing, there is the theater wing. This area has play stages and movie theaters all set up. You can either watch any movie or show in existence (no worries about streaming rights here!), or rewatch any theater performance that's happened in history in the form of ghostly visages's. Find out how Hamlet was performed when Shakespeare was still alive, or see the first greek tragedy. Mice and Rats are the maintainers of this wing, they will help out pick out movies and also run a concession stand with any movie snacks you'd like to consume during the show.

Of course, not all shows are ones that we passively spectate. Besides the theaters, there is a room devoted to be a fighting simulator. Take any kind of weapon you'd like and choose to fight spectual foes from history and legend. Trade blows with the greatest samurai or battle a beast of legend. While it feels real, no actual injuries will come from these fights. And for those who prefer their battles to take place in the digital plane, there is a relatively newly added room with all the video games you could possibly want.

The Planetarium Wing

The planetarium is the wing devoted to astronomy and the heavens. While there's plenty of shelves of books here with information about space, the main event in this hall is a planetarium. A massive dome that can be set to display the night sky as it appeared at any time or day- and not just on Earth either. You can find out what the sky looks like on any number of worlds. All of them feel hyper-realistic, like you're looking at the real night sky. Bats help run this part of the library, the dark starry skies doing nothing to hinder their assistance with visitors.

The Museum Wing

The museum wing covers all artifacts that relate to knowledge but wouldn't quite fit in the other wings. Dinosaur fossils, vases, paintings, tapestries, all of them are carefully displayed with information about each item. These items have been collected across different worlds and throughout history, with all of them carefully preserved. One room of the museum is devoted to divine donations - donations given by deities when they came once came to visit and clearly the shining gem of the museum. Items such a Dharma Wheel, an apple from the Tree of Knowledge, an actual eye (thanks Odin), and other items relating to knowledge have all been carefully put on pedestals. While trying to steal from the other wings will have magic measures that simply prevent you from doing so, the consequences of trying to steal from this part of the library will lead to much more dire consequences. To reflect that, this wing are patrolled by crocodiles who will guide you to exhibits, but will also snap their jaws anytime they feel you're getting too close to an artifact.

The Mess Hall

With so much to see in this library, it'd be a shame if hunger got in the way. Just head down into the basement, where an expansive dining hall and kitchen await you. The goats that run this part of the library will be happy to cook you up any kind of meal that has ever existed. Or if you're the type to want to cook for yourself, you'll have free access to the kitchen which is full of any ingredients you could possibly want. The walls are lined with cooking tools and cookbooks to help you along as well. Cooking is a form of art, after all.

The Records Wing

The final wing contains records of every person who has ever lived and died. Each person's life is recorded in a hardcover book that is decorated in ways to reflect the person. The length of a book will depend on how long the person has lived, and it will cover events that happened throughout their lives. While you can access records of people that live in different worlds, you can only access records of people who have died (the permanent kind). Not only that, but the keepers of this wing (ghostly apparitions of scholars) will only allow you access to the records of people that are part of your family or somehow related to you.

Hauntingly, AU characters will be able to find books of their past selves among these shelves, as well as the records of their past selves relatives. It will detail their lives in their previous worlds, the events described lining up with memories you've experienced. The causes of death will vary. Some will go on to live long lives before dying of old age, while others will be killed abruptly by something either within or out of their control. But if these books say anything: it's that these memories you've been getting? They're coming from a past life.

Meeting the Muses

While the animal and apparitions do most of the running of the library, the true masters of this place are the Muses. Spend enough time in the library, and you may have a chance to come across any one of the nine sisters. While they are gracious hosts, they carry themselves with a pride that feels dangerous to step on. When asked about the memory loss suffered by some characters, they will explain that them or their sister simply wanted to give them the gift of inspiration and the memory loss is an unfortunate side effect mortals sometimes suffer from their divine gift. However, the damage isn't permanent! All one must do to return their forgotten memories is destroy anything they created while they were under that divine inspriation, and the Muses will return their memories. Doing just that will return their memories as promised, though some might find that their memories have been altered some - as if the Muses were inspired to tweak your past.

That said, the Muses really do love sharing inspiration, so anyone who is tempted to gain their divine inspiration may be offered to do just that. If you take the offer, the muses will draw upong your character's past and your character will gain a free regain that's worth up to 4 points - but in exchange they will permanently lose a memory of equal value (so if it's a 1 point regain, a small memory would be sufficient, meanwhile a four point regain might make them forget their most important person). Just how much are you willing to give up in order to gain?

Overall, the Muses will be happy to have the characters enjoying their library. That said, the Muses take great pride that they are the greatest at the arts and creation. Should you try to challenge them at their craft, expect them to not hold anything back. And whether you win or lose, they will be angry enough at your audacity that you might wind up cursed. So maybe be careful with these ladies.

Aftermath

With memories returned (or taken), the Great library will be available for the rest of the month. Take your time exploring and enjoy this great marvel. Zodiac will be willing to pay anyone who is willing to take notes on their findings in the library, as well as any notes copied from books they think will benefit them. Characters that attempt to take anything out of the library will find themselves unable to leave until they return the item, and anyone who causes damage to the library will find themselves removed from the library and forbidden to return. But all and all, it's shaping up to be a peaceful month.

You should probably enjoy it while it lasts.

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.

Players can use this event to modify their AU histories if they so desire! If you decide to change AU histories, please comment with the changes here so the mod team is aware! As for people willing to take up the deal for losing memories in exchange for a regain, please comment detailing what memories you intend to lose.

The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. Another Zodiac Post will be going up September 15th to serve as an intro post for new characters and allow characters to react to developments over the network.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well...

[He flips through the pages near the end once more]

There's a lot of things mentioned that don't make a lot of sense to me, since this thing doesn't have a glossary of any king, but...it sounds like we were trying to stop something called the "Great Twilight"? Or a war?

...Either way, it sounds bad. [...] Maybe if the timeline ended, we failed.

[Sounded ominous. Enough to destroy a world, maybe and maybe not. It was impossible to say for certain.]

This isn't exactly my department of study, but it's not impossible that the timeline became unsalvageable.

Yeah....maybe that's what happened.

[Which is a very...disturbing thought. Especially when he's not even sure what made it so unsalvegable]

Which, that's worrying. That there's something out there that decides that a timeline can't be fixed so...better delete it!

That's actually-... [He trailed off in the way one might have upon realizing they were about to say something a normal person would consider alarming.] ...not...quite as unheard of as you might think.

[.....

IMMEDIATELY SUS]

Is this something the mages at your old school did?

Wh--no, god no. No one has the kind of power to control something like that.

[Waver shook his head, trying to brush aside his immediate reaction.] I don't understand a great deal about it, not in any detail--I don't actively study this field, but I do research plenty of things that probably are none of my business to know. Let me try to explain the broad concept as I understand it.

[He gestured with the hand not leaning on his cane, drawing invisible lines in the air to illustrate his point.] Imagine time like an immensely large tree with countless branches. Each of those branches is its own parallel realm, reaching out from the trunk for any number of reasons.

Now, a certain level of divergence is considered acceptable--after all, not every single imaginable timeline is going to match one another perfectly. The branches closer to the trunk are considered acceptable, for lack of a better word. However, there are those which extend so far that, much like an ordinary tree, the branches need to be cut off in order to preserve order. We call this the 'Pruning Theoretical Phenomenon'; the operation of parallel worlds and the idea of travel between them is known as 'Second Magic'.

[At Waver's strong reaction, Elliot does take it at face value - feeling a bit of guilt for accusing him something like that]

Sorry, I just wasn't sure-

[He'll stop himself, opting to listen to Waver's explanation. Which to his credit, he is able to follow along pretty easily - especially with a metaphor like that]

...I see. So in other words, if this theory is true, then sometimes timelines get pruned in order to preserve the rest of the timelines.

And that's...possibly what happened to this version of me. I- He was in a timeline that needed to be ... pruned.

[Honestly, it would have been terrifying if anyone did have the power to control which timelines were and weren't pruned. That was, as far as he knew, the domain of the Counter Force--as the name implied, a force rather than a living person.]

It's possible. I don't know if the principle holds in other worlds--that is to say, 'other worlds' as the definition applies here. Worlds where my understanding of magic and the like might just not exist.

Considering the evidence we have, it's as likely a theory as any.

[Is it a theory that's really depressing? Yes. But Elliot isn't one to shy away from depressing truths. He shuts the book ant sets it on the table with a sigh]

Considering there's a book in the first place, I knew it'd end in a death of some kind. I guess I was just hoping for something like .... "He found a nice husband, became a famous musician, and died in his sleep at 95".

So much for that.

It would've been better if it were boring, definitely. Potential timeline pruning isn't exactly how I'd want to go, either.

Yeah... [He reaches up to scrub his face. He'd been hoping to get some answers, but instead he's been left with more questions. Great]

...What about you? Have you found anything?

[He sighed, pressing a hand to his head.]

Yes and no. What I didn't find is more important, at least to me. I don't have a lot of 'family' in the technical or literal sense, but I haven't been able to turn up anything on them. Which means, as far as I can tell, that nothing horribly catastrophic's happened while I've been here.

Oh, so that's what you were looking for...

[It makes sense. He wonders if the other otherworlders are doing that too]

Well, that's good news right? If there isn't a record of them available, they must be alive.

That's how I'm choosing to interpret it, at least. [Hopefully, that wasn't just wishful thinking.]

All I found were a couple things regarding people I know are dead, so I would think the logic holds.

[Elliot gives a nod]

It seems like sound enough logic to me. I mean, don't go looking for borrowed trouble, right?

Definitely, and don't invite trouble you can't get back out of. My friends can handle themselves, so if anyone does realize I'm gone, they'll manage.

Hm? Why wouldn't they realize you're gone?

Any number of reasons. I don't know a damn thing about Second Magic past what I just told you; therefore I have no idea if time truly operates on the same scale. Especially somewhere like this, which as far as I can tell might as well be another metaphorical tree entirely.

...But mostly because if I'm wrong and I've already been missing for this long, every single person I know is going to kill me either metaphorically or literally when I get back, and that's not a thought I want to contend with.

[Elliot can't help but laugh a little at that explanation.]

Haha, I could see that! I'd want to avoid something like that too if I was in your shoes.

And I take it they wouldn't buy the "I fell into another dimension by accident I swear!" defense either.

Oh, no, admitting I effectively utilized Second Magic to travel between realms is not something I want to tell anyone, even if I had no hand in it. Zelretch can get away with parallel world travel because he's damn near in charge of the whole Clock Tower.

[With the lightly spoken air of one who has accepted they are well and truly screwed no matter what they do:]

That would get me a Sealing Designation immediately the second the wrong people found out. Which means I'd basically get executed.

What? Seriously?!

[While Waver speaks of it lightly, Elliot is definitely much more disturbed by it. Enough that it causes him to raise his voice enough to make other patrons look. He looks embarrassed enough for a second before lowering his voice once more]

They'd execute you even if you had no control over it?

I never said mages were rational. A manifestation of spontaneous Second Magic would be treated as an unprecedented event, and the Association would deem the subject to be worth testing and preservation. Which involves jars and formaldehyde.

Honestly, it was only a matter of time before I got myself in that kind of trouble. I'd rather have at least done something to earn it, but here we are.

[ha ha we're flippant about our own potential death sentence in this house!]

They'd preserve you in jars?

[Elliot groans, moving to rub his face. He had a normal life, before all this started. And yet since he joined the app, he's heard so many awful stories of other worlds said in such a casual tone]

I swear- Are any of the other worlds not horrible places?!

[He can't say Earth is always great but JESUS GUYS]

My world itself isn't that bad. Most people don't know anything about the Mage's Association, and everything's relatively normal outside of that.

...It's just that mages are wretched creatures, really.

[He gives a slight disapproving look]

Hey, watch it. The kid I look after is a Witch.

[In other words, don't you be talking about my kid that way. Mage and Witch are close enough as it is. But he pauses, the disapproving look fading away after that quick chiding.]

...I don't think mages or magic's the problem anyway. Sounds more like it's just power and corruption.

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