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seasonsrpg2025-03-21 09:15 am
seasonsmods) wrote in seasonsrpg2025-03-21 09:15 am
Event #13: Who Are You, What Could You Be?
Who Are You, What Could You Be?
LOGS | NETWORK | OOC | MEMES | NAVIGATION
March 21st
Nightwake is buzzing with excitement. The Dragon Lord, Opallios, has sent a proxy to Nightwake. This young dragon is an ivory colored, medium sized dragon, perfect for mingling with regular people. After a meeting with the guild leaders, the dragon addresses everyone with a booming voice, almost like it's coming from loudspeakers throughout the city.
"Otherworlders", he says. "My name is Einnainth and I'm here on the behalf of the Dragon Lord. You have been invited to the Abandoned Castle by Lord Opallios. We have worked hard to repurpose the place into sanctuary for all dragons and power holders. There, you may participate in a ritual to unlock completely new powers with our help. If you wish to hear details, I will be at the Solarpeak Beach."
The same message is also send to each device, just in case someone missed the announcement.
Those who come to meet Einnainth can see him enjoying affectionate pets from the local children. He will be explain that it was finally time to entrust ancient power holder magic to the otherworlders, as well as the four guild leaders. Dragons have always been the guardians of the powers so it was their duty to pass it on when the time was right.
He also requests to get some supplies for the castle, such as wood and stone, if they're able to spare them. They still have a lot of work to be done in the castle. While they can fix most things with magic, just conjuring materials from thin air is very taxing.
(March 22nd onwards)
New teleport crystals have been installed near the Abandoned Castle. All of the four guilds have counterparts for quick travel. Of course otherworlders are allowed to travel to the castle however they want. The crystals lead to a gazebo; those arriving from the summer and spring guilds end up near the summer side entrance, while autumn and winter arrive at the autumn side. It doesn't matter which side someone ends up in, as both entrances lead into the same area.
Those who have visited the Abandoned Castle before can notice a huge change. The walls that separated the two sides before have been knocked down. The only thing separating them is the way they're decorated and their general architecture: summer side is made more of stone and has no furniture or decorations left, while the autumn side has warm, wooden tones and plenty of dusty furniture and decorations in autumn colors.
Dragons have brought in plenty of moss and other soft natural materials for people to sit on. Their own sleeping quarters are in the rooms or outside on the roof. Peeking into them will reveal some of them have started hoarding different things in the middle of their rooms. Leaving them something they collect will result in the dragon becoming their friend.
There's plenty of time to socialize with the dragons before the main event begins. Plenty of berries, vegetables and fruit have been gathered for anyone to eat. Some dragons even have meat and fish.
Once everyone is gathered and settled down, Opallios makes an appearance. He's larger than most of the dragons present, white with gold accents. Many might remember him from the Frozen Falls.
"Welcome, everyone. We have gathered you here to help you unlock ancient abilities that we have been safekeeping. These powers are more difficult to master and some of them are even dangerous. However, we have full fate in you, hence why we are ready to pass the powers back into your hands."
He explains that the ritual will happen in special mindscapes, shaped by their minds. It will done in pairs and there's no rush. They can work on the unlocking as long as they need. No one has to do this right now either, as the dragons will remain here and help them anytime they want.
After that, he conjures very old-looking parchments from the air for everyone. They have a list of abilities they're about to unlock, written by the people of old.
The ritual to unlock the powers starts off simple. There are several small fires in the main room set up. Otherworlders are tasked with finding a partner and then sitting with them by one of them. However, the dragons warn that the more familiar the partner they choose is, the more dangerous the ritual would be. It's better to pick someone who they aren't so deeply bonded with for this.
Once the pair has settled down, one of the dragons approaches them. Next step is to hold hands or otherwise form a physical contact and close their eyes. The dragon will then breathe out a veil of mist that surrounds them. It feels comfortable, making it easier to relax. Slowly, the physical world starts feeling more distant.
Suddenly the pair will feel like they're floating. If they open their eyes they will be greeted with clear blue skies and a vast meadow they're about to gently land on. However, the moment they land the scenery changes; the scenery shifts according to what fits their states of mind. It splits neatly into half, one side for each person.
The state of mind can be visualized in different ways. Someone who has no problems or burdens may just have the same meadow with the blue skies while those with heavy burdens may have an approaching storm on the horizon. The meadow could also be withered and gray instead of the lush bright green, or even on fire.
Even if the two would have similar minds, there are still obvious changes. However if the pair is very close to one another the scenery will seem like it fits together seamlessly, no matter how different their minds are. They even have the risk of melding completely together, which can end up with both of them dead. They have to be constantly focusing on their sense of self to keep the two mindscapes separate. Whenever they stop doing so they will feel it as an ache all over their body.
Several different colored energy lines travel across the mindscapes. All of them have a different purpose. The bright golden ones are their touch energy, which are currently actively burning. Other colors vary between what season they represent; blue for winter, pink for spring, green for summer and orange for autumn. They have several different shades, representing all kinds of different abilities. Those with special powers from home will also notice an energy line for them.
The pair must follow the right colored lines through a variety of different landscapes; forests, mountains, rivers, and so on. Their lines follow the same path; straight in the middle of the two mindscapes. There's even a chance of enemy counters (representing enemies from home or from Ellipsa), depending on just how dark their state of mind is. All of their powers, seasonal or otherwise, work here so they are able to fight the enemies off. Dying means failing the ritual, injuries will reflects as unpleasant pain for a while after.
At the end of the lines they will find a wall with a gate. Only by touching the gate at the same time will it open and behind it they will find several illusions of themselves. Approaching them will have them tell them something that is either a complete lie or the absolute truth about the person.
Their next task is to find the ones that tell the truth. Accepting the truths, no matter how unpleasant, will the the person absorb energy; this energy will feel like they're unlocking something new. Denying the truth will break the mindscape around them, causing cracks. Too many cracks will completely break it down, waking them up from the mindscape and ending the ritual in a failure.
Accepting a lie as the truth will also result in absorbing energy, but this energy will result in a minor injury in the real body and feels unpleasant.
The amount of accepted truths needed to unlock the abilities varies between each person, but there has to be at least five different ones. These can be just simple things like "he has brown hair" or "she sucks at karaoke", but also truths they necessarily don't want anyone to find out.
Optionally, characters can also capture a floating ball of energy inside the gate that will unlock the ability to do emotion magic. However, this can either be completely ignored or just unnoticed.
After the pair has gathered all the possible energy, they are ready to wake up again. To do this, they must join their hands together and focus on the physical feeling of their own bodies. Their mind starts feeling more distant and eventually, they can feel like they're sitting once again.
The dragons congratulate them on their success and offer to tell them all about their season's abilities in more detail. Some even enthusiastically tell them all about emotion magic that may become something like a wildcard for them in battles.
People can redo the ritual with others, should they wish to help them unlock these abilities as well. However, they do not gain anything by doing it (unless they missed the emotional magic part) - other than possibly a deeper connection with the other person.
With all this excitement, don't forget that all around the city, the End-of-Winter Festival is in full swing! Ever since long ago, this festival has been a cultural mainstay to say goodbye to winter and bring in spring (on the calendar, at least, since the seasons all stay in their places).
In every district, there are bonfires set up here and there. They're all in places far from the centre and away from anything particularly flammable, for the sake of anyone uncomfortable with fire -- but they're all festival hubs for people to gather. Just like last year, all the traditional activities are back: dressing in costumes and masks to symbolize winter and spring; singing and dancing around the fire; dramatic improvised plays where people are asked to act out a battle between winter and spring; and, of course, the pancake breakfasts! Thanks to the recent quests, most of them even have real maple syrup instead of the cheap golden corn syrup in the packet. Or berry syrup, if you're not into maple.
The jellycats (cats that have jelly-like shells protecting them. The shells wiggle everytime they purr and they can retreat back into them whenever they're uncomfortable) also make another appearance, staring at anyone eating pancakes and hoping they'll share a bite. They come in various colors and scents (each jellycat smells different to different people). The scent becomes stronger the more a jellycat likes and trusts a person.
The traditional festivities aren't the only festivities this time around. After a very successful showing at last year's Arts Festival, the fanclubs of assorted otherworlders who have become minor or major celebrities through quests, missions, or even just plain social media presence are back. Not just that, but they've gotten serious and have opened an Otherworlder Fan Merch Store down a side street in Nightwake near one of the festival hubs.
They've certainly gone all out, even compared to when they just had festival merch booths. Otherworlders can find themselves on all kinds of merchandise like buttons, keychains, mugs, art prints, acrylic stands, and even 3D mouse pads and body pillow covers. Further back in the store are more esoteric goods. How many people are buying collector plates with the city's heroes on them? Who would buy a wallet with their face on it? Pasta shapes in a can?! Someone's gotten creative.
Past a curtain (wait, no, that's a shower curtain with life-sized images of characters, also available for sale), there's a section advertising "Unauthorized Biographies." Flipping through the comics and novels, one thing is clear -- this is the doujin section. How much of a market is there for RPF of the otherworlders? It's not even all dirty; at least half of these are coffee shop AUs shipping people with their friends or overly personal gushing about the time the subject of the story saved the author during a quest or a time monsters got into the city.
The Amberfall Library doesn't have a bonfire (for obvious reasons), but it's also running as an event hub of a different sort. Following the Dragon Lord's announcement, they've brought up some archived books for people to peruse about the old days of the now unsealed season magic.
There aren't very many, owing to how long ago it was, but a few still remain. The biggest feature is a book of short stories, where two specific stories are bookmarked.
In "The Tale of Spring and Autumn," two lovers on a mission, a Spring and an Autumn power user, find a massive and powerful monster beyond description that threatens their home. Pushed to the brink, the Spring mage increases her own magic over and over, disregarding her own safety, to wound the monster gravely, but the overuse of that ability turns her into a tree, and the monster knocks the tree down. The Autumn mage breaks down in a fit of grief and uses her wood powers to kill the monster with the wood of the tree.
In "The Tale of Winter and Summer," a Summer power user is guarding a Winter exorcist when they come upon a spirit searching for help. The Winter channels them to fulfill their last wish to save their town from the pirates that killed them, but the spirit turns out to be lying and is actually a ghost pirate themself, and the Winter struggles and ultimately fails to take back his body from the ghost. The Summer, seeing the rest of the ghost crew gaining on them, causes a landslide with a magical explosion.
Thankfully, they're not all that depressing. Any would-be scholars can read gathered information about their new abilities, though these ancient sources might not always be the easiest to parse.
And as a festival activity, the library has also provided paper and writing utensils for attendees to write about what season magic means to them. They can be anything the writer wants and will be posted up in the library for the duration of the event!
Summary of the prompts [ Click to Expand ]
SECTION 1• The proxy for Dragon Lord Opallios arrives to Nightwake
• Dragons are ready to bestow new powers for the power holders
• There is a request for wood, stone and other materials for the dragons
• Quick travel has been unlocked to the Abandoned Castle
• Dragons have redecorated the castle and provided natural cushions to sit down on
• Some dragons have started hoarding and will become friends with people who contribute to their hoard
• Opallios explains the ritual
• He also provides lists of abilities they're about to unlock
SECTION 2
• The rituals begin with holding hands and dragons breathing mist
• They ascend to a mindscape meadow that will take shape based on the pair's state of mind
• Those bonded closely together have to focus on their sense of self
• Several different colored energy lines appear
• The pair has to follow the right ones through different sceneries
• Enemies may appear
• They encounter a gate that has illusions of themselves inside
• They have to find the truths from the lies and accept them to learn a new power
• Waking up means holding both hands
• Characters may help others to unlock these powers as well
Do You Remember When Days Were Like That?
•Nightwake City is celebrating the spring equinox with bonfires, festival games, plays, dancing, and costumes
•Pancake breakfasts pop up around the city, and stray jellycats appear more often trying to get people to share
•Fanclubs open a merch store for unauthorized otherworlder fan merch
•Fan merch can be anything from common types (think artist alley/fan shop offerings) to weirder things that have been offered as merch (anything from pasta shapes to ice cube trays or fancy plates)
•A section in the back of the store sells fanfiction and fancomics written by Ellipsan fans of otherworlders
•The Amberfall Library is participating in the festival with a display related to the ancient powers in the dragon ritual
•Some old short stories are tragic cautionary tales about the risk involved with the stronger powers
•Nonfiction also exists to figure out things about the new powers
•A related activity is for attendees to write what season magic means to them
• Ask event related questions here
• The new abilities can be learned by anyone, even those who have just started learning their regular ones. They're separate from the original powers, despite both being seasonal abilities.
• The ritual can be done anytime after the event as well and it can be handwaved. However, NPCs can't help with the rituals in this one so everyone should have a playable character to plot with.
• Characters are free to help the dragons repair the castle and otherwise just hang out with the dragons.
• Smut is not allowed on the event post, so if your thread is heading that way, please move it to a separate entry (like to your musebox or characters' journal).
• Remember to content and spoiler and content warn as necessary!
• Reminder to players that this month is Activity Check-in month and check-in ends on March 31st, at 23:59 PST.
no subject
[ She could just stop here. She doesn’t have to say anything else. It’s entirely possible for her to just shut up and let Frieda make her own assumptions, but those would almost certainly be kinder to Falin than she deserves, and so she makes herself continue: ]
Even though teleportation magic is… dangerous. If you teleport into another person, you will hurt them. You might even kill them. Your body will take the place of theirs, and if you overlap too much, you’ll… They will not survive. This is why you need to be certified in teleportation magic, which I’m not. But I had to get them out of there…!
[ Her hands ball into fists as if by themselves and she has to consciously will herself to relax them again. She’s not angry, not really, just determined that she was right and yet also scared that she wasn’t, and bitter at her own doubt, and… ]
It’s alright. What’s done is done. I know it was careless of me, and if someone had been there, I never would have forgiven myself. But I had to do it, and if I had to… I’d do it again.
no subject
For a moment, she's uncertain if she can encourage Falin's willingness to do it again in good conscience, and ultimately she settles on:]
Fortunately, it all went well.
[With three fake Falins left to go, she hopes that her friend won't have to contend with more difficult moral conundrums... but in a way, don't these confrontations allow her to set her future course, should she find herself in similar situations again?]
no subject
Maybe fate takes pity on her, or maybe she’s just lucky; either way, the next copy offers a simple statement — “You don’t know how to swim” — that’s easy to refute and even seems to cheer her up a little bit. ]
No, I do. [ This, she says to the fake Falin, and then, turning towards Frieda: ] Laios and I used to go swimming sometimes when the summers were warm, and the school I went to was farther south, so the lake nearby would only freeze over in the coldest winters… It’s a good skill to have.
[ Maybe less necessary here in Ellipsa, though, seeing as the seasonal powers even allow otherworlders to change into animals… She hasn’t tried that yet, but she’s curious about how it would feel to swim with the current of a river or dive down towards the bottom of the sea like a fish can. That can wait, however; first, she needs to get through what’s ahead.
Her penultimate copy says “You’re envious of Marcille” in the same emotionless monotone as each previous one. This gives Falin some pause, but she doesn’t seem upset by the statement; if anything, she appears to be thinking it over deeply, truly weighing both sides of it before she finally says: ]
No. Not anymore.
[ It still happens sometimes, brief little pangs of feeling inadequate and convinced that Marcille would do better at whatever it is she’s currently struggling with, but she doesn’t feel this way most of the time, and that’s good enough for her — and for the copy, too, it seems, because it disappears like the previous ones did, granting her its energy, and the sky does not fracture again. ]
One more, huh…
[ She glances at Frieda, meaning to say something more, but in the end she just smiles.
When her last reflection simply says “You miss your family’s dogs,” Falin blinks, once, twice, and then laughs, a surprisingly bright sound considering her otherwise somewhat wilted demeanour. ]
You know what? I really do. I miss my parents and my brother and my friends more, but I really do miss the dogs quite a lot.
[ This time she could almost swear the copy smiles ever so slightly as it disappears. ]
Gosh, that was… really something. Thank you for sticking with me. Should I, um, should I come along with you as well, or would you rather I didn’t?
1/2
As they move on and she learns that Falin used to be envious of her elf friend, who seems to be such an accomplished mage, but is now more assured of her own abilities, she gives her an encouraging nod. Falin has already made quite the personal development journey herself, hasn't she?
When the last doppelgänger offers up such a mundane truth, she gently joins in Falin's laughter, and as it disappears, she takes her hand to squeeze.]
Well done!! Truly, this was... it wasn't easy, was it?
[And after Falin allowed her to see so many truths about her, how could she not allow her to stay by her side too? She keeps holding on to her hand as she leads the way towards the nearest Frieda copy.]
2/2
...
No place where people are can truly be a paradise. I've known that for a long time. Even if everyone had enough of everything, people would still find reasons to hurt each other.
[Even without her suppression of the truth.]
The Walls keep us safe from the titans, but they don't keep us safe from ourselves.
[Closing her eyes, her doppelgänger disappears and bestows more energy onto her. Despite having given the right answer, the truth weighs heavily on Frieda, and she needs a moment before she's ready to move on.]
no subject
[ Frieda’s hand is warm and reassuring in her own, and she’s happy to keep holding it as they approach her copies. The first two statements are luckily easy to contend with, but the third one feels different, heavier, even to someone like Falin who has no context for it except for what she learned from Frieda just earlier today. Still, she can tell her friend is struggling with it, and she stays quiet until Frieda answers. Only then does she softly say: ]
I’ve seen an attempt at building a paradise before. It consumed the life of its architect and stole the chance to truly live from the people inside it. I don’t think it’s possible to build one, not truly.
[ She means for the words to be reassuring — “Don’t worry that it didn’t come to pass, it was a doomed effort from the start” — but she quickly realises they just as easily can come across as further condemning the idea, and she reaches out to lightly squeeze Frieda’s shoulder, hoping her touch will make her intent clear. ]
no subject
I think you're right. It's a dream, and a beautiful one, but it can never come true. Our nature will always keep it out of our reach.
[Her smile is sad, but she's ready to push on. The next doppelgänger's statement - "You've never been in love" - leaves her flustered as she explains that that's not true and is rewarded with more energy, and the one after that gets her favourite colour wrong - it's not red, it's blue (though she briefly waffles over whether she doesn't like yellow more by now).
The next one gives her more pause: "You're a coward."]
I wasn't always a coward, I know that for sure. I was ready to make sacrifices! But... the longer I live here, the longer I live for myself, the harder it feels to risk my life. I'm scared of fighting, and I wish I could avoid it altogether.
[She frowns, unsure of where that leaves her.]
no subject
She can’t help but laugh a little at the next statement, or rather at Frieda’s reaction to it — so different from how happy she was to tell her about Jade when they went shopping not long ago! (Then again, it’s probably easier to talk about that sort of thing with a new friend than one’s own copy conjured up inside a dream.) Her favourite colour, sadly, goes in one of Falin’s ears and then right out the other — she doesn’t have one herself and so always forgets it’s a preference other people might have. The sentence after that, though… ]
I don’t think that’s cowardice! I think it’s only natural to not want to die — no animal will offer up its life if it doesn’t have to, and most people won’t either, and that’s fine…!
[ Her grip on Frieda’s hand tightens just a little, nowhere near painful, but noticeable. She clearly feels quite strongly about this. ]
Though, um, I guess that’s not very helpful when it comes to answering this… Sorry. But for what it’s worth, I think there are many ways to be brave, and you don’t have to sacrifice yourself to not be a coward!
[ She knows that’s rich coming from the girl who all but jumped into a dragon’s maw to save her friends, but she never once considered it in terms or cowardice or bravery, and she’s convinced that makes it different. How exactly, she couldn’t say, but it just is! ]
no subject
You're right. There doesn't always need to be a sacrifice.
[Even if that remains hard to conceive for her in some ways! Raising a hand to her chest in determination, she tells her doppelgänger:]
I'm not a coward. Even if I'm scared, I keep facing my fears.
[Her copy closes her eyes and fades away, and she casts a grateful look at Falin. Only a few more Friedas to go!
"You're scared of transforming into animals" isn't true; she's just been focusing on other magical skills first. But she will get around to it! "Your favourite fruits are apples" has her waffling, but ultimately, she decides that she likes pears, plums, and berries even more, which is likewise accepted as true. The last statement, too makes her ponder: "You want to stay in Nightwake rather than return home:"]
...
I do want to stay here. I'm scared of what will happen when I return home. But... that's selfish, isn't it? If I don't return, I'm not only abandoning my family, I'm jeopardising my world's entire course of history.
[It may seem like a vast overstatement, but the Founding Titan is the greatest power known to her world, and even with the limitations put upon it, its absence will leave a tremendous power vacuum behind.]
no subject
She wants to say something reassuring, something helpful, but truthfully… she doesn’t know. She doesn’t know enough about Frieda’s world to know if it’s true that its entire history would be changed if she didn’t come back — although something’s telling her that Frieda’s not given to exaggeration, so it very well might be the case, no matter how much it makes her head spin to imagine one person’s actions having such an impact on the fate of an entire world. She doesn’t know enough about her family to know if they would be alright without her, if they’d be able to accept the fact that she chose to live away from them. All she knows is what she says now, softly, quietly, as she wraps her arms around Frieda in a sideways hug: ]
If I were your family, more than anything else I would want you to be happy.
no subject
Thank you, Falin. I know they want me to be happy, and I have to believe that they'll be happier without the titan being passed down our bloodline, too.
[After all, the risk of the Reiss family somehow regaining the Founding Titan after it's taken from her is what will, in the future Historia told her about, mark all her other siblings for death alongside her. With it gone, there's no reason not to spare them... so she hopes, at least.
As the final doppelgänger turns into energy for her, she exhales in relief.]
We did it..! We addressed all their claims.
[She doesn't want to rush her friend, knowing how curious she is about everything around her, but as soon as Falin is ready, she'll sit down with her to hold hands and focus on returning to their bodies in the real world.]
no subject
We did! Gosh, this has been a bit of an adventure, hasn’t it?
[ She knows they’re technically done already, but she’s a little sad at the thought of leaving this place behind, even though it’s not real; there’s something touching about it being a product of her undertaking this ritual with Frieda, almost like it’s something they built together. Giving it a last fond once-over, she finally notices the small sphere of concentrated magic floating just inside the gate. ]
Oh! What’s that?
[ And off she goes to touch it, without a second spared for doubts or worries. ]
no subject
Already having sat down, the sensation of Falin's hug still comfortingly lingering, she looks up at what her friend points out - and before she can assess whether that floating orb mightn't be a threat, Falin has already approached and touched it. It gets absorbed into her, seemingly without any ill effects, but Frieda still quickly stands back up, startled.]
Are you alright?
[It behaved just like the energy their copies turned into, but why did it appear in a different form?]
no subject
I’m alright, I think!
[ She trots back up to Frieda, and when she gets close enough to touch her, one half of the orb floats out of her again and into Frieda, as if Falin just carried it over to her in her pocket. ]
Oh!
[ Her expression is a little uncertain as she watches it move, but for all intents and purposes it seems to behave just as the previous sparkles of magic did, and so she’s not overly worried. She is curious, though, and so she muses out loud: ]
I wonder what that was… I don’t feel any different now — do you? Should we head back?
no subject
Perhaps it was a reward for completing the ritual with a good failure rate!
[She's joking, but who knows, it might just be true!
With no other phenomena in sight, they both settle down and take each other's hands, and before she closes her eyes to focus, Frieda once more reflects on how naturally safe and accepted she feels around Falin.]
...
Thank you for doing this with me, Falin. There's no "stranger" I'd rather have gone with.
no subject
Maybe!
[ At this point it wouldn’t even be a surprise to her; so many things in this world so far have felt to her like they were brought about by some sort of intelligence, sometimes whimsical and mercurial but still mainly benevolent, and so she can easily picture this being a gift or a reward from whatever that force of nature — magic, perhaps? — would be. She’s not a religious woman, never has been, but she imagines this must be what believing in gods is like — seeing a guiding hand behind each twist of fate, knowing the world can be trusted to reward and punish as appropriate… (Not that this is necessarily anywhere near what Frieda meant, but, as is often Falin’s wont, she took the thread of someone’s sentence and used it to weave an entire tapestry of her own thoughts in her mind.)
Though Frieda can’t see it, her words make Falin smile widely; she can, however, feel Falin gently squeezing her hands. ]
Right back at you! I’m really glad we could do this together.
[ Even despite all the effort, all the difficult admissions, all the truths and lies they had to face — she’s glad that she chose to do this, and that it was Frieda who was at her side for all of it.
As she closes her eyes and focuses on the sensation of occupying her own body, the mindscape surrounding them slowly fades away, like a dream dissolving into nothing within minutes of awakening, and then they’re in the dragons’ castle again. ]