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ABRAXAS MODS ([personal profile] abraxasmods) wrote in [community profile] abraxaslogs2021-06-12 12:13 pm
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EVENT #1

EVENT #1
Welcome to our very first event! This event will be divided into two parts: one for honored guests, and one for prisoners. There are some opportunities for characters to go to the opposite group's event, so read on below and make sure to check out the accompanying OOC plotting post for extra details!

This event takes place ICly from June 14th to June 19th.

The Summer Festival (Honored Guests)

It's June, and that means the annual Summer Festival in Castle Thorne. The newcomers are causing quite a buzz and, for the first time in ten years, a representative from the increasingly independent city of Nott has agreed to attend. The representative, Lyle Vela, has a lot of political sway in Nott and the impression he takes back with him will affect whether Nott begins to repair relations with the rest of Thorne or moves even further towards independence.

But that's not all there is to do here! The residents of the city surrounding Castle Thorne are intensely curious about the newcomers and several of the events at the Summer Festival have been designed by the mages to show them off. At some point you may begin to feel more like a prized pony than an honored guest, but there are rewards and gifts and good food to be had for all, so what's the harm in showing off a little?

The festival runs all week (June 14th-19th) and the list of events are as follows:
Sparring Contest: Honored guests will be asked to spar in front of an audience. Depending on the time of the week the fight takes place in, some guests may have some or most of their powers back, but the audience is here to see a show and just trampling your opponent in seconds won't do much for them. Try to add some spice to it: a good narrative and a close fight are much more enthralling. You may decide the winner of the fight between yourselves or ask the mods to roll for an outcome below. Prisoners who stay behind can sneak into this event but will not have their powers.

Magic Demonstration: Show everyone what you can do and demonstrate a Thornean magic spell in front of an audience. This should be a simple beginner spell such as a smaller elemental magic spell, some minor healing, a small illusion, and so on. Feel free to decide what spell you'd like your character to perform and post to the header below so the mods can roll for your character's success when performing it in front of the audience! Regardless of success, your character can learn the chosen spell by the end of the event. Unfortunately, prisoners cannot access this event.

The Black Market: Castle Thorne is much less secure during open festivals than it is during the rest of the year, so it's no surprise that some shady characters have managed to sneak in. They're trading potions and magical items, and luckily enough for the penniless newcomers, they're interested in things other than money. They may ask for some blood, saliva, or the chance to perform a spell on the hapless newcomer. Prisoners are welcome in the black market. Please post to the header below to see what item your character gets from the event (and what spell they'll be subjected to if you choose that option).

Visit with the Representative: Near the end of the Festival, three honored guests will be chosen to have one-on-one audiences with Lyle Vela in the hopes of impressing him. Ambrose hasn't had the time to get to know each guest individually yet, so he's asked that they choose the three candidates among themselves. If you wish you have your character volunteer for this position, please make a case for their suitability under the header below! If your character is not running for this position, have them vote for another character. Prisoners who stay behind may vote as well.
At the end of the festival on June 19th, there will be a huge feast available with all manner of fancy food and some alcohol if you wish to get a little drunk. Beware, Thornean alcohol is strong! Prisoners who stayed behind to help out with the festival can easily slip in and take some food and drink for themselves.

If your character has been imprisoned but you want them to attend the Festival, an honored guest may lobby for them to stay behind and help set up. It'll be work, but they can sneak off to have a bit of fun and it won't be as difficult as what's in store for the rest of them. If you wish to have your character stay behind, please post to the OOC plotting post. Because we know that claustrophobic tunnel horror isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, there is no limit to the amount of prisoners who can stay behind.

In the Tunnels (Prisoners)

Good news, prisoners! You get some time away from your cells in the beautiful snow-covered mountains of northern Thorne. A volunteer work opportunity has arisen, and you are all volunteers. If you do well enough at your assigned task, perhaps your prisoner status will be re-evaluated. Or perhaps your supervisor will take all the credit for themselves and throw you right back where you came from. Life's unfair sometimes! You'll at least be given a nice set of boots and heavier clothes to keep you warm.

Your task: to harvest as much crystal as you can from the burrow of a Giant Frostwurm. From June to September, the Frostwurm hibernates and is generally non-aggressive. Huge and territorial, Giant Frostwurms are only rarely encountered and are considered endangered by Thornean biologists. All known Frostwurm habitats are marked and harvested once every few years as the crystals that grow on its body are highly valuable for use in medicine and, erm, recreation although the latter is frowned upon by Thornean authorities. Don't worry, you don't have to touch the Frostwurm itself, it sheds every now and then and leaves a healthy supply of crystals in the tunnels of it burrow.

That's not to say it will be an easy task. There's a reason they're using "volunteer" prison labor, after all. The tunnels are deep and labyrinthine, and it's easy enough to get lost down there and wander in circles until you die of thirst or starvation. The crystals themselves also have a certain disorienting effect that turns hallucinogenic after prolonged exposure and, because of the Frostwurm's unique psychic properties, hallucinations can be shared between individuals. Like a contagion, spending time around someone who is hallucinating can cause it to 'catch'. These hallucinations may be pleasant or frightening, but the only cure is to get out of the tunnels and away from the crystals for a while.

Tunnel cave-ins are also a possibility, in which case you best start digging and hope you choose up. Getting too lost can result in an encounter with the Frostwurm, and while it needs to conserve energy and won't give chase, it'll bite or whip at you with its tail if you get too close. Both prisoners and supervisors are instructed not to kill the Frostwurm under any circumstances, even if it means sacrificing someone in their party. They're endangered, after all!

If your character has been welcomed to Thorne but you still wish to go on the Frostwurm excursion, they can volunteer to be a supervisor. There are currently 24 prisoners and they will be divided into groups of 3, so we will accept a maximum of 8 supervisors (potentially less depending on how many prisoners stay behind to help with the festival). Be aware that supervisors will be in danger as well, and they will be punished if they try to help the prisoners escape, but unlike the prisoners they will be paid for their efforts and seen as having initiative by the Thornean authorities. If you wish to be a supervisor, volunteer on our OOC plotting post.

The timeline for this part of the event is as follows:
June 14th: Prisoners will be led from their cells in chains to a Thornean fast-travel portal (a glowing circle of neon light) that will take them about a mile away from the Frostwurm's burrow. It's cold and the air is thin, so they'll be given the rest of the day to rest and acclimate before being sent inside.

June 15th-18th: Down in the tunnels with you! Characters are sent into the tunnels and can experience any of the effects listed above. If your party makes it out after sunset they'll be permitted to sleep in a tent, if they're lost then they will sleep in the tunnels. On the 18th, anyone who comes out alive will not have to go back in and the supply of crystals will be counted.

June 19th: Today would be the day of the Summer Festival, if they were back at Castle Thorne, but their captors aren't completely merciless. The prisoners and supervisors will be marched back to the fast-travel portal, where a small feast has been set up for them. It isn't as glamorous as what's back in Thorne, but it's the best meal the prisoners have been served since they arrived. And, as a bonus, the guards might slip you some alcohol if you did a good job in collecting the crystals.
Please visit the accompanying OOC plotting post to choose your team of three, and a supervisor if your group has one (groups without PC supervisors will be sent off on their own with no NPC supervisor). This event is designed to have some element of risk to it (but no one will die, don't worry!) so while you can plan what happens to your characters out with your group if you like, we also encourage you to post an action or two to our IC Consequences header below and leave it up to chance. Who knows, something awesome might happen.




Questions


Will there be any mod NPCing during this event?
The three visits with Lyle will be NPCed but other than that, no. Feel free to play random townies, guards, or black market sellers on your own!

Can I try to free the prisoners/can my imprisoned character break out?
Ambrose will be willing to hear cases for prisoner freedom after the event has concluded. You can try to smuggle the prisoners out of town during the festival or escape from the mountain, and prisoners can try to escape, but they will be caught and punished at this stage. Please post to the appropriate header below if you wish to have your character try!

Are the prisoners still powerless?
Yep! Don't worry, inmates, there'll be opportunities to be released for good behavior OR do a prison break soon. More details about the status of the prisoners will be released after this event.

Can my prisoner or supervisor character break away from their assigned group?
Yes, the tunnels are disorienting so individuals may wander off, especially if they are hallucinating. Feel free to interact with anyone and everyone.

What can the hallucinations entail?
Anything! They can think they're being chased, imagine a portal to a green oasis or even scenery from their own homeworld, and anything else you can come up with. They won't be real or tangible so nothing will remain of them once the affected characters are recovered (unless a special mod consequence is given...) but as stated above they can be shared between characters so everyone can see the same thing.

Can my character attend both the Summer Festival and the mission in the tunnels?
Alas, no. Both events will take the whole week, so it's one or the other!



baltimores: (034; a part of her is too)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-06-27 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, figures there'd be a catch. He almost smiles to himself; Jolie really is like a younger version of Naomi. He likes being around her. For as bullshit as this place is, she's a bright spot. Makes it a little easier to get through this.

(Might be contributing to the swearing habit, but she's old enough, right? Right.)

And he doesn't get a chance to respond, because suddenly his back is wet and cold and what the fuck and that's what he gets for not paying attention, huh. Amos sits there in stunned silence for a moment before jumping up, at least trying to dislodge some of the snow and oh god, he's going to be feeling this for the rest of the day, isn't he. His mind goes completely blank, trying to figure out what he's supposed to do — he didn't have this kind of childhood, there weren't any snow days, no playtime, what is this — before he remembers the half-formed snowball in his hand and. Fuck it, tit for tat, right? So he lobs it right at Jolie, a soft enough throw but aiming for centre of mass. He wants to hit her back, damnit.
mytearsaremine: (aaaah)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-06-27 07:32 pm (UTC)(link)
He hits her right in the chest, and she falls back on her butt, laughing. But she expected it, and is already trying to gather up another handful of snow to lob back at him. Her aim is a lot worse than his, and he's likely to only get a smattering of bits falling off her imperfectly-packed snowball than to actually be hit by it.

"I got you!" she sings out, clearly doing her best to have a good time despite it all.
baltimores: (049; with that)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-06-28 08:46 am (UTC)(link)
She's laughing, and he doesn't get it. The retaliation, yeah, definitely; the way bits of snow hit his own chest, the snowball disintegrating on impact, nothing like getting a handful of snow down his back. The only shock to his system this time is the mood change; before she'd been complaining about the injustice of their situation and now she's... having a good time?

At her age, he'd dealt with the bullshit by shutting down. Not feeling anything; he'd stopped being a person long before then. And maybe that wasn't the way he was supposed to deal with things. He'd probably fucked up, which seems about right for him.

Her voice brings him back to the moment before he can actually think about any of it, opening his mouth, closing it when he realizes he doesn't actually have a response, opening it again. "Barely," he calls back, because, well, it's true. (Ignores the indignity of the melting snow he can still feel on his back.) He squats back down — keeping an eye on her because he's not gonna fall for a sneak attack again, not if he can help it — and starts forming another snowball, quick and precise and fires it back her way.
mytearsaremine: (hopeful)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-06-29 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Get used to teenagers, Amos. She's trying to get what enjoyment she can, while she can. Maybe it's a little frantic, but that's probably to be expected when she doesn't know when they'll be thrown into the mine or dragged back to a dungeon.

She throws handfuls of snow at him, not actual snowballs, most of which don't even make it to him at all. "I'm really not good at this!" she admits, grinning.
baltimores: (107; protein bar don’t)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-06-30 07:56 am (UTC)(link)
He watches as the snow comes apart en route to him, some bits and pieces making it far enough to land on his head from where he's still squatted down near the ground. He looks up at them; catches the sky in his peripheral vision, too. All's clear. Hell, it's practically nice out.

Okay, maybe he gets what's going on now that he thinks about it. So he returns the grin, doing his best to meet her on her level. "No," he says, because it's the truth. But also, "Can't blame you. Since you've never seen snow before."

Amos takes his eyes off of her — it's probably safe now — and looks down to form another snowball, taking the moment to make sure it's a good one. And then he throws it right at her. She started it, so all's fair, right? Right.
mytearsaremine: (determined)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-03 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
She's on her knees, in the process of trying to make a decent snowball herself, but she drops it when his snowball gets her in the shoulder.

"You shouldn't be much better!" she complains back at him, but good-naturedly, as she scrambles to her feet with... and armful of snow, now. "You said you never got this much snow!"
baltimores: (054; yes. I am)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-03 09:56 am (UTC)(link)
His grin broadens when he sees her stand up with just an armful of snow, somehow. If he was the kind of person who laughed, one might even escape him; instead, it's just the sentiment.

"You can't rush it!" he calls back, still keeping himself close to the ground, looking up at her. It dawns on him somewhere in the back of his mind that he's enjoying himself. How foreign a feeling that's been, but especially lately, since being brought here. Shit, it's weird, but he doesn't want to question it. "You gotta pack the snow together. Otherwise it'll all come apart. You don't get a lot of snow, you gotta know how to use it wisely."
mytearsaremine: (aaaah)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-04 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
"That depends on your strategy! And skills!" Her skills do not include aiming, really, so with that little warning, she's rushing him with her armful of snow, aiming to just lob all of it onto him at once. Surely with that much snow, she can't possibly miss!

Of course, he could just dodge or run the other way or something. She is pretty fast, but she's also fourteen and has short little legs.
baltimores: (103; (stupid))

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-04 09:02 am (UTC)(link)
He has no idea what she's doing, really. Just running at him, carrying as much snow as she possibly can, and— oh, yeah, that makes sense.

By the time he actually stands up, only a partially-formed snowball in his hand, she's close enough to inflict some damage. Some of the snow hits him in the face, most of it his chest. He shakes his head — a single, quick, almost jerky motion — blowing some of it away in the process. It's better than a surprise attack down his back, at least. Amos wipes a hand across his face, looks down at Jolie.

"Yeah, can't say I've seen that move before," he concedes after a moment. He's still smiling, so there's that; he's wet, too, but eh, they're surrounded by this stuff, it was probably gonna happen sooner or later. And he feels a hell of a lot lighter, just doing this. Being in this moment. Can almost forget about the whole imprisoned thing.

And then he drops his snowball on top of her, assuming she hasn't already darted away, letting it come apart in its own tiny flurry. "Probably only works the one time, though."
mytearsaremine: (Default)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-05 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
She's started to scramble back, but it's not far enough, and she gets snow all over her hair and face. "Pffft!" she spits it out, wipes her own face, then laughs. "Probably! But it was worth it. Your face was great."
baltimores: (049; with that)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-06 06:31 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah?" He runs a hand through his hair, removing whatever snow might still be there. The cold is starting to set in, but it's alright. Nowhere near as bad as where he was before all of this. And he just feels kind of warm inside, on his own. Which is different. Along with the idea of... his face.

People are never like this around him, is all. And he's just. Really enjoying the company, apparently. Snow and all.

"Hey, you gotta take the wins where you can." And this is a massive win right now, even if he's already taken his fair share of losses in this snowfight. Amos unceremoniously sits down, right in the midst of the snow, tired but. Not content. Happy? Shit. Maybe happy.
mytearsaremine: (hopeful)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-07 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
Jolie grins at him for a minute, snow melting in her hair, but it starts to slip at a little shiver, recognizing she's still cold. Which won't do at all, she's going to stay happy for a little longer. "Come on, what else do people do in the snow. Um. Build things? Snowmen, right? Come on."

She gives his shoulder a little swat, an urge to get up, and trots over to the nearest big bank of the stuff.
baltimores: (143; I won’t)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-07 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
Amos takes the swat, not moving for a moment, content to keep sitting there a couple of seconds longer. But clearly he's got no choice in the matter — not that he minds at all — so he gets up and follows Jolie.

"Arright," he says, bending over to reach the top of the snowbank, start forming a snowball. "Here you gotta actually form a snowball, though. A good one, one that won't come apart." He gives her a sideways glance; she knows what she did. "A big one."

And with that he keeps adding to his snowball, rolling it down the snowbank, packing the snow on. How big of a snowman this is gonna be, who knows, but he's game for whatever. Been a minute since he's had the chance to actually build something.
mytearsaremine: (dubious)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-08 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm capable of packing it together." Probably. It shouldn't be too hard, right? He's done it. Kids do it. "I just didn't really bother before." That would have required more preparation, ruining the element of surprise, speed. Besides, packed snow might have hurt, and that was the opposite of what she wanted.

She doesn't roll hers, at first, just patting it all together for now. "Have you ever actually made a snowman before?"
baltimores: (024; what was his name)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-08 09:48 am (UTC)(link)
He raises an eyebrow at her justification, but lets it slide. Sure. Maybe it's the truth. Maybe it's not. Doesn't really matter.

Easier to just keep building his snowball up, though he does pause to look at her at her question. Has to think it over for a second. "Probably not," he admits. "Didn't really get that much snow. Or time in the snow. Maybe some of us could steal away a couple of minutes to throw it at each other, but that was it."

Back to rolling his snowball, packing more snow onto it. "But I figure you just make a couple of big snowballs, stack them on top of each other. Right?"
mytearsaremine: (Default)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-09 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
That does sound about right. You can't go anywhere around Christmas without seeing fake snowmen, even in California, even in her isolated little part of the coastline. It's on tv all the time, at the very least.

"Three of them. A bottom, a middle, and a head. We can't get a carrot for a nose so we'll have to figure out something else. A big-ish rock maybe? Different color rocks for eyes?"
baltimores: (060; personal business)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-10 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"Sure," Amos says. He's less concerned with the aesthetics, more with actually building the thing, making sure it's structurally sound. Practical over pretty.

Though it would need a face, wouldn't it. Otherwise it's just. Stacked snow. That's not really anything.

He keeps building up his own snowball; figures it's likely to be the base. That's his only real focus. The thing he's probably good at, can actually do. "You see anything good around for that?"
mytearsaremine: (shhh)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-11 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
"There's pebbles around, but I wasn't looking too closely at them for, you know, prettiness." She had considered maybe picking a few up to chuck at guards, but she knows the strength of her throwing arm isn't really enough to actually hurt them, and nothing's going to be sharp enough to use for a knife or small enough to pick a lock. So it's just wishful thinking, really.

Jolie is also pretty practical.

"Think yours is big enough yet?" she asks, eying it thoughtfully.
baltimores: (056; yeah)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-12 08:11 am (UTC)(link)
Amos stops, stands up straight, looking down at what he's got so far. Doesn't look that big now, standing up straight. He glances over at Jolie; obviously, they're gonna have different perspectives when it comes to this. There's a balance to find there.

"Maybe a little more," he says, settling on a compromise, adding a bit more snow until it reaches about his knees. Is that too much? Feels like a good enough size. He rolls it back over to the snowbank; seems like a decent enough place to put it.

Isn't sure if he should start on another part of it now or what. Gives Jolie an appraising look in the meantime. "Pebbles don't gotta be pretty," he says. Yeah. He gets it. Shoots a glance back at the main camp, around their borders; guards everywhere and nothing to really be done about it. He exhales, a soft puff of frustration. "They just gotta get the job done. Not a lot of jobs they can do though, huh."

Being a snowman's face is one of them, so at least there's that.
mytearsaremine: (thoughtful)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-12 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"No, not really. Not a real job, anyway." She could happily annoy people with them, but then she'd just get in more trouble. She's trying to keep her disobedience to things that are actually productive rather than just useless anger.

She doesn't always succeed. Jolie has a lot of anger for a fourteen year old.

She eyes his base snowball, then hefts her own up to cart over to drop on top of it. "I think that looks okay. Want to make him a head while I find some of those pebbles?"
baltimores: (079; so he’s dead?)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-13 08:39 am (UTC)(link)
So this is officially his first snowman now, huh. Headless for the moment, but he gets to fix that. Coming together pretty decently, really.

"Sure thing," he says, gathering up more snow, packing it together. Shouldn't take too long; it's gonna be the smallest one yet. Then just making sure the snowballs actually stay atop one another and giving it a face.

"You know," he says after a moment, once he's built a head that fits the rest of the snowman's proportions, or about as good as it's gonna get, "this is weirdly productive."

They're a night out from being forced to go mining, after all, and he's probably put more effort into this than he will for the rest of their stay up north.
mytearsaremine: (Default)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-14 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, but it's productive for us," Jolie says firmly from a few feet away, crouched to pick at the pebbles in the dirt, as if that makes the difference. Maybe it does. It seems like it does, to her. "Besides, people like having something to do. And I can only throw snow at you so many times before you get annoyed or I get annoyed or both."
baltimores: (072; you feeling better?)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-14 08:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Guess so," Amos says. To both points, really. It's not something he'd have done on his own; he's enjoying it, though. And it is something to do. Taken his mind off of other shit, if only for a little while. Not gonna do a whole lot in the long run, but at least in this moment, it's alright. "Probably gonna have enough of snow sooner or later, anyway."

He builds a little bit around the individual snowballs; makes sure they'll stay in place, that they won't be knocked over so easily. Then he stands back, waits for Jolie to put on the finishing touches.
mytearsaremine: (shhh)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine 2021-07-16 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, we will." She says it darkly. Frankly, as soon as she stops moving around, she'll probably have had enough of snow, because this one coat is definitely not enough to keep warm with. But for now? She's going to focus on the fun with a friend. "Should our snowman have gray eyes or brown eyes?" she asks.
baltimores: (038; it’s about Charles)

[personal profile] baltimores 2021-07-18 07:47 am (UTC)(link)
A small huff of not quite amusement, but a little more than standard acknowledgment, at her dark comment. It's the truth. Just also isn't used to being around anyone who'd express it like that, is all. There's something kinda refreshing there.

As for the question... "Huh," he says. Wasn't prepared to answer that. That's not the kind of decision that usually comes down to him.

"Brown," he says after a moment. Some of his favourite people — people who are not here — have brown eyes. If it's between brown or grey, then might as well go with brown.

(no subject)

[personal profile] mytearsaremine - 2021-07-19 00:18 (UTC) - Expand