songerein | { halloween }

Entry tags:

{ halloween }

HALLOWEEN

Another Halloween has arrived in Reverein, and the Nightmare Troupe returns from their mysterious origins to help transform the carnival grounds to fit the season. They've added a new feature attraction: The Labyrinth, where everyone just runs around to fight spooky baddies for candy, prizes, and flex one's combat abilities in dreamotion. It's all in good fun, of course!

More details on everything can be found here. As a reminder, events double as our TDMs and information can be found here. Any outside characters participating in the log are canonly logged as appearing in Songerein in October and will remain in Songerein from the IC date of October 25th, just before the event ICly begins. TDM only characters can only thread within this log. Anyone who apps in and is accepted will have their character count October as their first time in the game without any disruption, so all content will carry over. Those who do not apply will disappear which should not seem too unusual, however players in game can choose to retcon and pretend a character was never there to begin with if it would be easier; or even think their presence was just a dream.

IMPORTANT! All outside characters MUST have "TDM" in their subject line, even if you might not app. This will help people differentiate those who are already in the game and those who are not.

TDM threads are required for samples. Refer to the Game Info for general information and feel free to toss any questions here. Reserves will open October 25th and Applications will open on November 1st. Our application cycles are bi-monthly so the next cycle after won't be until January.

TDM Toplevel Link Directory (click to view)

Bokurano - Jun Ushiro
Cookie Run Kingdom - Black Raisin Cookie
Dead by Daylight - Zarina Kassir
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - Edgin Darvis
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - Xenk Yendar
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core - Genesis Rhapsodos
Final Fantasy XIV - Emet-Selch
Final Fantasy XIV - Hermes
Final Fantasy XV - Somnus Lucis Caelum
Full Metal Alchemist - Alphonse Elric
Genshin Impact - Ei
Genshin Impact - Nahida
Great Ace Attorney, The - Iris Wilson
Hey Arnold! - Helga G. Pataki
Hi-Fi Rush - Chai
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Zelda
Noragami - Yato
Original - Astralin Turnont
Touhou - Maribel Hearn

We will request any thread submissions for certain prompts during AC and TDM threads will count. For more information, refer to the Game Notes.

I. CARNIVAL

II. LABYRINTH

COMMENTS

I. CARNIVAL

While the carnival grounds still have the standard fare of attractions themed up for Halloween, there are a few new ones popping up thanks to the Nightmare Troupe. Some are similar to what appeared last year, but with a different look to them. Some, perhaps, more terrifying than before.

A. Personalized Costumes. All throughout Reverein boutiques and tailors are in full swing to create costumes for those who wish to wear, either by renting or buying. However, for those who are a bit adverse, the fairy godmothers are out and about ready to employ their fashion magic to grant anyone and everyone a special Halloween costume, just for them! There might be the slight side effect that the wearer may behave like the costume itself, but it's just a temporary phase.

B. Vampring Frights. The vamprings are still out and about, nibbling on nightmares. But now they are also appearing outside of dreams, deciding that a bit of fear could make as good of a snack or meal as any other. Only the ones that are truly hungry will appear, so a little purple blob will bounce and latch onto any part of their target's body they can reach (though they particularly like the top of the head). Those who are bitten in this manner won't try to bite others, fortunately. Instead, they will become something like a "Vampring minion" and try to invoke fear and scare others. (For more information and use the original version of the Vampring, read here.)

C. Monster Swaps. Small monsters will roam the carnival grounds and will swap bodies with random people to go around pulling pranks and tricks in the person's body. The person is now trapped in the monster's body, but has access to the monster's trickster, spooky abilities as well (ie, players can make this up). To return to normal, they must find their original body and bite it. Otherwise, they will have to wait for the monster to get bored and return to switch them back.

D. Carnival Fare. Here are a few of the general games and attractions available for carnival goers to enjoy.

🔫 Zombie Shooter. Ride through a rickety car through a building and shoot the "zombies" that pop up with bright green paintball guns. While most are cardboard, there are a few volunteers that dress for the occasion. Don't mind their pain as they get hit, they're fine.
👻 Spooky Stories. Instead of a fire, there is a boiling cauldron set up where people can gather around and try to conjure up their spookiest story. The steam over the cauldron will change and twist to try and illustrate the story as it goes, and should it proof particularly scary, a manifestation of the terror will crawl out of it to terrorize everyone for a little bit before disappearing.
🍏 Poisoned Apples. Special caramel covered green apples are handed out throughout the carnival. One bite will inflict one or more of the following effects: floating, dizzy, sugar rush, creepy, frightful. (Players are free to be creative and come up with additional effects!)
🧹 Broom Carousel. The horses have been replaced with different styles of witch brooms, letting everyone have a safe experience of flying on a broom. Until the brooms suddenly fly out of the carousel and into the carnival. Hang on or stop that broom!
🎃 Pumpkin Carving Challenge. Pumpkins can be found all over the grounds, and there is a challenge to carve them with dreamotion and light a special candle in them. Doing so will bring the pumpkin to life and behave like whatever expression or drawing carved on them. Whether they behave nicely is a different matter. Blowing out the candle will stop the pumpkin.

E. House of Mirrors. The House of Mirrors will have new mirrors installed that have new special effects…many making everyone inside feel not quite themselves.

🎭 Jekyll and Hyde. A black framed mirror where the opposite version of the viewer appears to taunt them.
💅 Narcissism. A gold framed mirror where one will see the best version of themselves and will stand stuck in front of it admiring themselves. They will need to be forcibly dragged away…else they may get stuck on the mirror.
🛌 Dream or Nightmare? A silver framed mirror that will reflect either a good dream or a nightmare that's on the viewer's mind. It will be a strong image, so strong that the viewer may be tempted to dreamwalk into the mirror, either to be a part of it or to destroy it. Some help may be required to help them either accomplish their goal or pull them out.
🪞 Mirror Version. Sometimes, a "mirror version" of the viewer may reach out to switch places, trapping the original inside the mirror while the mirror version goes out to cause some chaos. The trapped person can only traverse through mirrors, and can only be freed if the mirrored version is shoved back into any mirror. One way to tell a mirror version apart is that they will randomly reflect things off their body.

F. Haunted Ryokan. A haunted Japanese styled inn is the theme for this year's "haunted house." On the outside, it looks invitingly eerie, with life-sized traditional Japanese dolls as their hosts and guides. They hope their new patrons will enjoy their stay…forever.

🏮 Peony Lantern. At first a beautiful woman will appear holding a lantern and take a person's hand to lead them through the narrow halls lit by floating lanterns. But whenever they pass under a lantern, the woman's form changes into a skeleton. Once they are noticed, they will screech and chase them through the hallways and rooms to the next location, but if left alone it will quietly lead them without issue.
🛁 Bathhouse. Somehow they get to the bathing area where the steam rises thick around them. Without warning a ghostly figure of a long-haired drowned woman will crawl out and chase with a bloody knife. Fish spirits will also fly out to impede them, but they could be used to smack the woman instead. Should someone slip in the water, they'll feel hands grab at them, trying to pull them under…
🪦 Graveyard. Past the courtyard is a graveyard where all manner of Japanese inspired ghosts and demons roam. A special paper talisman is available, and once powered with positive dreamotion it will create a shikigami that will help ward off and defend against the ghosts. But it must have constant dreamotion poured into it, so should it ever go out, the ghosts and demons will suddenly rush into chase.
🐕 Shiba Statues. Should anyone be having a truly terrible time, special little shiba inu statues will trot in to dispel the "evils" and give the visitor some much needed comfort and respite. They will even guide them to the exit if needed. Those who manage to pass through on their own will also meet the shiba inu statues and have a chance to play with them as if in congratulations.

II. LABYRINTH

A big structure now occupies the area just beyond the Fairgrounds. Towering stone walls hide complex pathways inside, and it turns out its express purpose is not to get people lost, but for a little bit of exploration. There is no entrance/exit, just a special circular teleportation pad that will take them inside and there is no end goal. It's not difficult to get out once inside, but the winding paths encourage visitors to check behind corners for treats because there's a lot of treats AND tricks!

A. Halloween Creatures. The labyrinth is populated with silly creatures held together by ~~craft glue and duct tape~~ both dreamotion and nightmare. These creatures will attack on sight, but subdue them and reap the rewards: candy and silly toys! It's all for fun, after all.

🦴 Skeletons. Their bones are made of rubber and most physical attacks will bounce off them. Have to get in close to blast with dreamotion!
🕷 Glow-In-The-Dark Plastic Spiders. Will shoot sticky licorice webbing that will trip up and trap any caught in it. Have to eat through it to get out, and the flavor could either be red or black.
🔺 Candy Corn Golems. Chuck giant pieces of candy corn that are delicious, but hurt! Golems will melt under intense heat.

B. Mysterious Doors. Sometimes, you may find a door at one of the dead ends. Knock, and most of the time a kindly old lady (where did she come from? Don't worry about it–) will present you with special trick-or-treat bags. The other times, a swarm of genuinely sinister nightmare creatures will come pouring out. Oops! Try again next time! Here are some of the items the old lady will give and their effects (they can be taken home after the event):

🧙 Witch's Hat. The hat will automatically fly on top of the person's head and will allow them to cast silly hexes of misfortune on their targets.
🧹 Witch's Broom. Can fly at fast speeds for a few minutes at a time. Only goes up to three feet in the air.
🤓 Plastic Fangs. These fangs will fit themselves in the person's mouth and will allow them to bite any candy corn golem or sticky spider licorice webbing with ease. And normal foods, too.
🕸 Spray Can of Licorice Webbing. Releases a spray of licorice webbing similar to the ones used by the plastic spiders.
🧻 Roll of Toilet Paper. Exactly as it says.
🍫 Nougat Center. A delicious treat that will temporarily boost one's ~~stats~~ dreamotion abilities.

C. Beware of Steve. If you're very unlucky, you may hear an ominous clatter in the distance... The low rumble of a revving chainsaw... Those who spend lots of time in the labyrinth will know soon enough–those are noises that mean you need to run. Because STEVE, THE 20-FOOT-TALL CHAINSAW-WIELDING SKELETON, takes no hostages, and he's out for blood!!! He will continue chasing people until fought, and anything goes with this foe. While dreamotion attacks will work, using the items given by the old lady in the doors will inflict greater damage. Anyone who is "killed" by Steve will be knocked out of the Labyrinth unharmed.

D. Grand High Viscount of Candy Corn. On the other end of giant "horrors" is a giant golem made of candy corn with a large top hat that may appear out of one of the doors. Its main attack, besides trying to punch and pummel, is spewing sticky candy goop that will trap anyone caught in it. It'll wear off, but until then, any caught in it will at first feel very energetic and attack more quickly before becoming sluggish and unable to do much, as if they suffered an extreme sugar crash.

I. CARNIVAL

II. LABYRINTH

COMMENTS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nico raised an eyebrow at Chai but didn't comment on the man's disbelief.

"Hmm... Okay, I'll tell you a story." He thought for a moment. What could he tell this guy about?

"Once, there was a boy. He was blessed with a loving, kind, and wise mother, and though his father was absent for most of his life, he gifted him with great power to protect himself in a world that would never understand him. With gifts so powerful that this boy's uncles would one day come to hate him. This boy's name was Perseus."

"... Uh huh." Not a name he'd ever heard before. Still, guy's dad ditched him? Rough. Even with 'great power' or whatever. "What kind of gifts? Or... powers, or whatever?"

He was trying to pay attention, at least?

"Perseus received all the powers of his Father: dominion over water, the ability not to drown, control over boats, the ability to command all that lived in the sea and horses.

"Out of all the children that were half-mortal and half-divine, he was the strongest, not just in power, but in spirit and heart..." Nico paused, his lip twitching in amusement. "Maybe not in mind, but he was far from stupid.

"But all of this made him a target. Monsters would chase after him, wanting to devour him. Such power made him all the more tempting to devour and make for themselves."

"... He sounds like a weird guy if he could do all that." But he knew people who could punch through walls, so who was he to judge? "So what'd he do? Just beat up all the monsters?"

That's what he'd do.

"He was regarded as weird. And it wasn't until he knew about his birth father that he began to gain those powers. Knowledge is dangerous. The less you know about the world beyond mortal eyes, the safer you are.

"But yes, he did go up against monsters. Monsters who would have eaten him alive if given the chance, or those who wanted to kill him simply to get revenge against his father. Something that is terribly common for those of us half-divine.

"But before he became so powerful, he was just a boy. At Twelve years old, he had been targeted by his uncles, convinced he had stolen their symbols of power. They sent the worst and most powerful of monsters: one of the Kindly Ones who served the Lord of the Dead, the one who punished the wrathful with whips of fire. And the Son of Minos, who had dwelt in the Labyrinth for years, had devoured twelve youths and twelve maidens every year he had been banished there. He killed Perseus' mother in front of him.

"These are but two of the Horrors he faced."

Okay that was... a lot? Both in story and out. Chai was nodding along like he was following, but most of his brain had gone up and left at this point.

... Wait.

"Killed his mom?! Dude that's totally out of line!" Sure, fight the kid with monsters or whatever, but killing parents was cheating.

Edited 2023-11-03 14:09 (UTC)

"Yes," Nico said, nodding. "It is just one of many traumas we are forced to endure. Made him mad with rage. He managed to kill Minos' son and then get himself to safety. He was then accused by the King of the gods, his uncle, of stealing his lightning.

"He was sent on a quest to both prove his innocence and reclaim the King's Lightning, or else the King would declare war on Perseus' father, and it would split the council of the gods in two. All while mourning his mother."

"..." Huh. "Why are families so much trouble for so many people?" His own was... fine? He'd gotten by with couch surfing and periods of staying at home. No one had accused him of stealing anything - well until the whole Vandelay business.

"If he was so powerful why didn't he just fight the king of the gods?"

"Because he was only half god, and the King was King for his power. Out of all the gods, he was the strongest. He ruled over the skies and the people. He was the most powerful of the most powerful. The only beings more powerful than him were those born at the start of the universe: the Earth Herself, the Lord of the Pit, the Lady of Night, and Darkness Incarnate.

"Anyways, I digress. Perseus didn't care for the quest, but he and the friends he made and his mentor all decided that the one responsible for the theft was his other uncle, my father, the Lord of the Dead.

"And Perseus decided he would go to Father and demand his mother back while he cleared his name. He would go to the Land of the Dead for her."

Seemed like a little bit of a copout to him, but he wasn't going to try to rip this guy's story apart. That felt kind of mean...

... Anyway. "That kind of sounds like a bad idea. Isn't that usually a bad idea in stories?" Not that he'd read a lot that dealt with the dead, but... usually not people you wanted to mess with from what little he'd heard.

It was the truth. Chai should try go up against a god, then see how that feels like a copout.

"I did say he wasn't the smartest person right? Also he was twelve and one of his most defining features was loyalty to those he counted as his."

A loyalty that was never extended to Nico. Their's was a complicated relationship.

"He travelled across the country, with his friends Annabeth and Grover, from New York to LA, facing many perils. The Gorgon Medusa, wanting revenge against his father. The Mother of Monsters Echidna attacked him in St. Louis, with her son Chimera. A creature with two heads on the front, a lion and a goat, both able to breathe fire, and for a tail it had a venomous snake with fangs that dripped poison." Nico grinned at the description. The Chimera was a cool creature. "And he was as smart as a human, so could outsmart a twelve year boy. Percy was hurt badly after the snake head sunk its fangs into Percy's flesh. He only survived by seemingly leaping to his doom from a twenty story building into the river."

He had... no idea what those places were or what those monsters were. He was trying to picture the monster but it was just ending up something like a robot or a bad children's drawing. He could dream up a lot of things, but that was kind of hard to imagine accurately.

"Leaping off a building that high? Not something most people would do, but I know of a daredevil or two who'd do that." Chai. Chai would do that. "Buuuut they're not twelve, so like... how'd he survive the drop?" ... ... ... "Wait, into a river... water powers?"

"Yes. Being a water elemental, he could not only survive the fall, but it also healed him. Though not as quickly as salt water could have. There, he met an envoy from the sea, delivering a message from his father, telling him to keep going west.

"And so he did. When he and his friends stopped for food at a diner, they met Ares, the god of war. The gods can take whatever form they choose, and Ares usually takes the form of a man made of muscle, with burning infernos for eyes. He offered advice, but little did they know the God of War had ulterior motives."

The story was getting a little too complex for Chai to follow easily, but he was getting the basic gist. It sounded... extremely specific. Maybe something this kid had gone through? But now wasn't like, the best time to ask.

"War's pretty much always bad, yeah? So that tracks." He flexed his robot fingers for a moment. ... Fighting was fun, but it usually was bad to have to do rather than just... want to.

"Well, there are two gods of war, Ares who is the brutal, raging side of it, and Athena who represents tactics and stuff, but she's not the nicest person either even if she is the most loyal and one of the most reasonable. The thing about gods you have to remember is that they're not mortal. They can die, be forgotten and fade back into Chaos, but they don't experience things like humans do."

Nico shrugged. "Anyway, Ares sent Perseus and Annabeth to a tunnel of love to get something for him, I don't remember what, and gave them a backpack. They then made their way to Las Vegas, and in it, found themselves in one of the worst places on the planet; The Lotus Casino and Hotel."

Tactics. Yeah, no. Not his style, really. He was more about flashiness and spontaneity. "I guess? I mean there's stories about stuff like that where I come from, but..." Not like that. Not these specific gods - and not that he knew them, anyway.

"... What's so bad about a casino?" Too many flashing lights?

Yeah, Nico could tell that.

"I guess casinos, in general, aren't so bad. But it was this one in particular that was awful. And terrifying." Nico shut his eyes and tried to keep his face as neutral as possible.

"This one affected the mind and time. An hour inside meant days had passed on the outside. And the longer you stayed, the more afflicted your mind became. You had no desire to leave."

He opened his eyes. "Stay there long enough, and the whole world changed and went on without you."

Give him a minute... uh. Hm. That hurt his head. "That's weird. Who'd go in there, knowing that?"

Or maybe they didn't know? He wasn't sure. It'd make sense if they didn't know, actually. Why was the stupidest thing always the first out of his mouth?

"They don't know going in," Nico said. "And most of the time, people don't want to leave because the mind is numbed. But strong minds can notice the change; of course, gods could take anyone out of there at their leisure. Or put them in."

Oh, crap. He forgot something. "I forgot to mention they were on a deadline before a war between the gods broke out. So, yeah, Percy and his friends spent an hour inside the casino, while outside, three days went by."

"Sounds like he was on a tight schedule. Someone had to break him out of it, sounds like." ... He was slowly getting the picture. He frowned a little bit, tilting his head as he looked at Nico.

"Was it you who snapped him out of it?" Because this was definitely something the kid knew personally.

"He was. He had to stop a war between the most powerful and the second most powerful gods. But the rest of the council was split between them. This is something that happens a lot."

Nico shook his head. "No. I was there but didn't meet Percy when he was there. I had been in there for seventy years at that point. No, Percy got himself and his friends out himself."

"Why does it happen a lot? Can't they just chill? I mean I've known bosses to fight over stuff before but I'd have thought 'gods' to be above it."

Hmm... interesting. He kept a close eye on the kid, watching his body language. "Seventy years? ... Man, I can't even say something funny, that's just sad."

"I had my memory erased before then, so it wasn't so bad," Nico said, though he got snippets here and there back. "And, no, gods can't chill. It's against their nature."

"Maybe no one's taught them yet." He'd been... not very successful in his attempts to get Vandelay's bosses to chill, but he could still try!

"Well, Apollo's pretty cool. He's the god of music, light, and a lot of other things. The rest, not so much."

He guessed Poseidon was, according to Percy, but Nico never really met him.

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