songerein | { when it snows }

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{ when it snows }

WHEN IT SNOWS

All items on this post will last/be available for the entire month! So timey wimey shenanigans are allowed.

More details on everything can be found here. We will request any thread submissions for certain prompts during A.

I. REVEREIN

II. DREAMS

COMMENTS

I. REVEREIN THAWED

After freeing the Ice Queen from the glass shard from her chest and clearing the dreamscape, the blizzard that affected not only Reverein but the Wildlands and beyond finally dissipates and soon everything returns to…mostly normal.

A. Glitter Snow. While the freezing sleet and ice of the blizzard is no more and a more gentle winter has entered Reverein, the fresh new snow that falls is not one one might want to stick their tongue out to try and catch a snowflake. Unless one likes the taste of glitter.

🎉 Good luck getting it out. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad if the glitter melted like snow, but it does not. It sticks to everything everywhere and while some might like a splash of colors, others may not.
🔮 Dreamglobes. Some fae are passing out empty spherical glasses, suggesting those who are interested to collect some of the glitter snow into them and then set the snowglobe next to their bed before sleeping. Whatever dream they have will be captured into the glass and upon waking will create a physical representation of the dream to create a little special "dreamglobe." Hope it's a good one!
✨ Glitter Collector. There are a number of people and shops that actually want the free glitter and ask for anyone to collect as much as possible. Works well for those trying to clean up and not sure what to do with it. What kind of products will end up coming from them well.

B. Mari Lwyd and Family. Mari Lwyd has finally returned to Reverein, and she's bringing along some family she's found. However, they can be a bit of a handful. Some are friendlier than others while others are going to make full use of this glitter snow with pranks and mischief. But they all just intend to have a good time, something that everyone may be in need of after that blizzard.

💃 Little Pranksters. The young Lwydlings cannot sing or speak, but they love to dance around and make all manner of noise—they also bite if you're being a big fat party pooper in their presence, and are a lot more likely to pull a few harmless pranks than their dear older cousin Mari Lwyd is. Very quick, they have the same vanish-and-leave-you-with-bad-luck if harm is attempted on them. Have a dance off with them, or aid them in pranking those who are being big fat grumps/meanie-butts.
🔥 Bonfire. One of the merry friends looks like a very tall pile of long hair and arms, but with them they seem to be carrying a basket and filling it with sticks and other kindling. This is for giant bonfires! Help gather wood and kindling to make a great bonfire to welcome some warmth in this winter, and aid any lost to not wander in this cold.
🥜 Nurturing Gifts. There appears to be another skull-faced being wandering around with their own 'little one' in tow—and despite the horned and frightening appearance of the larger fur and hyde clad figure there are small gifts to be shared. An act of kindness rewards one with a bundle of magic beans that if nurtured and cared for will bear a great gift come spring. Great.

C. Hot Springs. The dragons are holding an open invitation to anyone who wishes to use their hot springs to warm up after that frigid blizzard. The dragons in particular will be practically living there, so hopefully others can squeeze in a spot. Rooms will be available for anyone who wishes to stay the night, and all amenities will be available: food, recreational games, etc. Just beware of the monkeys that have descended down from the mountain seeking warmth as well. They are prone to stealing things, particularly clothing—and wearing them.

D. Dream Board. This is the perfect time to do many of the Dream Board prompts, and while the full details are on the notes, here is the quick list of what they are:

Dream Board List:

⛄ Snowball Tonics: Transform into massive, different colored snowballs.
🔔 Bell Choir: Grab a bell and play for a concert!
🧣 Never-Ending Scarf: Help untangle the beautifully, extremely long crocheted scarf, dodge cats, and get the whole thing together in one place.
🍻 Keg Brawl: A game where one must carrying a keg of ale from one end of a field of ice to the other while avoiding the other team trying to stop you.
🐶 The Inugami. Help a pair of spirit dogs find each other.
🌠 Falling Stars. Make wishes upon the falling stars before they cause too much damage!

II. SHATTERED DREAMS

Although the Dreamwalkers were successful in removing the strange glass shard in the Ice Queen's chest and ended the nightmare dreamscape that caused the blizzard, the Ice Queen still has yet to awaken. Jack Frost has taken her to Orkili to try and purify her with the pods, yet it only caused an adverse reaction, prompting the Orkilins and Jack Frost to ask for help from the Dreamwalkers once more. Isolated in a separate room where neither dreamotion nor nightmare energy can enter, those who are willing to investigate the Ice Queen's dream will be able to freely dreamwalk, with the warning that she seems sensitive to positive dreamotion so everyone should take caution when using it.

In the meantime, there are some other happenings going around in Orkili, including investigation into some nightmare crystals.

A. Piecing it Together. Those who enter the Ice Queen's dream will find themselves free floating in a dark void with large reflective glass-like shards with blurred, fogged scenes reflecting on their surface. They float aimlessly through the space, and a closer inspection will reveal that these shards can fit together and likely form a larger image. The goal is to now try and put the pieces together, though it's not as easy as it might seem.

🪞 Nightmare manipulation. For whatever reason, those who either have high nightmare resistance or can control nightmare energy will be able to move and be around the shards with very little effect to them.

💥 Too much of a good thing. Because the shards are dark and clearly exude nightmare energy, there will be those who will try to use positive types of dreamotion to purify the shards. Some dreamotion will be safe to use and will help clear up the image on the surface. However, too much focus will have a negative feedback where the dreamers are pushed back with a freezing gale and the shard they are focusing on will crack and break into smaller pieces. Nightmare energy can help mend the cracks, so it's better to try and use both at the same time.

💔 Blurred visions. As the surface of the shards clear up, various scenes of different themes can be seen, both good and bad. Love, heartbreak, hatred, anger, joy, jealousy, loneliness, fulfillment, family, abandonment. Those who experienced the ice mirrors in the previous dreamscape will feel a strong familiarity with these larger shards, except these are clearly towards the Ice Queen herself.

This is where we want players to come up with any scene that the Ice Queen may have experienced that could be reflected on the shard! We'll request submissions and piece together a story based on player input. Don't worry about any contradictions, we'll work it all in one way or another. The only constant is that Jack Frost and the Ice Queen do have a close, romantic relationship, which is why Jack is very worried about her.

B. Unwanted Intruder. While in the dream, a grotesque looking noctaere will appear and try to attack and consume the shards. Should it succeed, the Ice Queen will receive physical damage that everyone will be able to hear and feel inside the dream. The void will contort and turn more like sludge. Attempts to use dreamotion will only worsen it, but those who can control or absorb nightmare energy will take it away from the Ice Queen. How it affects them however, will vary between dizziness to momentary lapse in judgment and may need to leave the dreamscape.

Those monitoring outside the dream will witness the Ice Queen scream and her skin blackening as if charred by fire. Same thing applies here: those who try to use dreamotion to heal her will only worsen it, but those who use nightmare energy to either draw it out into some other container or absorb it themselves will be able to pull it out of the Ice Queen. Those who absorb the nightmare energy will have similar varying effects, from just light dizziness to becoming more irritable and hostile. Attempts to try and directly pull out the nightmare energy otherwise will be unsuccessful—it will only work when the noctaere has consumed a shard and caused the physical side effects.

No one will turn noctaere through this method because not enough nightmare energy will have accumulated.

As for the noctaere, it will sometimes appear outside the dream, and those who encounter it or deliberately try to hunt it down either within or outside the dream will find both dreamotion and nightmare based attacks effective against it. However, it's a very tough and difficult foe, so while it can be damaged, it cannot be defeated at this time. Those who investigated the claw marks from a few months ago will notice it leaves behind the same claw marks. Those who witnessed it will also find it familiar and can safely say it's the same.

I. REVEREIN

II. DREAMS

COMMENTS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm enjoying myself just fine."

The reply is absent-minded, though, and he continues pacing around. Even Naoya's words don't bring enough comfort to make him stop, hecause he feels way too high-strung after everything.

Desperately, he wishes he could relax. Unfortunately he can't.

"Doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. They're dragons, Naoya."

"As if you couldn't fight them in a blink if you wanted, shoes on or no."

He sighs. He's been avoiding needling Kazuya, but he knows the teen's been high-strung since he went to train with Joshua. He doesn't want to push him, but...

"You're hiding something from me."

"There's still more of them than there are of me. And even if I was, it's none of your business."

Except it very much is, because Naoya should- needs to know that the meager amount of magnetite he's been getting from him isn't cutting it.

But Kazuya's not going to admit to that. Because it puts more stress on Naoya, and he's trying to keep his cousins stress levels low.

At least when it comes to serious stuff, anyway.

"As if I wouldn't help you."

Ugh. Teenagers. When he was a child he could get anything out of Kazuya easily. Now he's thinking he's an adult and can handle everything alone just because he's the King of Bel.

"You've got more energy. You absorbed something. What was it? I'm not stupid, you know."

It's true. Ever since Joshua, he's been less prone to taking naps, less exhausted, and it's definitely easy to tell.

"The souls of the unworthy, obviously." Now he's just being a shit about it, because he isn't going to tell him.

"You didn't save any for me? I'm hurt." He rolls his eyes and splashes some water towards Kazuya just to be annoying.

But annoying is what Kazuya's being. "If I can't hide things you shouldn't be able to, either." He's annoyed he didn't put that in the contract, yes.

"You can't eat souls, as far as I'm aware. They're for me, not you."

Not that he has any plans on eating any souls, thank you very much. Then again, he hadn't planned on consuming magnetite from Joshua either, and look where he's landed himself now.

"Not part of our contract. I get to hide things if I want, if I was. Which I'm not."

"Of course I can, I slurp them up with a straw." Now he's just being a little shit. "And you're absolutely hiding things and you're fooling yourself if you think I can't tell."

Now that he knows Kazuya's trying to hide it he really wants to know.

"You absorbed more magnetite than usual." ... "I know I haven't been providing enough. I want to know where you got it from so I can help you. But I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

"I haven't done anything of the sort. You're imagining things in your old age."

He deflects, walking a little father away, as if there's something more interesting elsewhere. He's not going too far, juat enough distance that Naoya can't grab him, or something.

He pouts for a moment overdramatically and thinks. His demons probably wouldn't be able to move him given his strength.

"Listen, Kazuya. I promised to help you. If you don't get enough energy you're going to feel awful. ... Stop being an asshole teenager for two seconds."

He genuinely wants to help. Pretty much everyone else can burn, but as long as Abel is fine, he's fine.

Edited 2024-01-22 16:18 (UTC)

"I'm not. And I'm fine." Insofar as he's not being an asshole teenager, and that he's consumed a surplus of magnetite, so more than feeling fine, hes feeling great.

"You worry way too much about stuff that doesn't matter."

"Probably." He's not going to deny that. "But you matter. So I worry about you."

Simple as that. He sinks a little lower in the water, trying to relax his tense shoulders.

"Then you should trust me when I say that I'm fine and nothing happened."

Because it'll be a cold day in hell before Kazuya admits to attacking someone so ferally. Especially after just having a conversation with Naoya about being fine and that the power of Bel was perfectly under his control.

... Though, to be fair, it wasn't the power of Bel that acted up. It was him.

"I trust you that you think you're fine. That doesn't mean you're actually fine." He chuckles for a moment, remembering a time when Kazuya would try to run out the door while being sick.

... Which triggers a flood of other memories, leaving Naoya clutching his head for a moment while waiting for it to pass. Enough to put him out of commission for a few moments, but - he'll be fine.

That gets his attention, seeing Naoya clutch his head like that, and it's enough for him to be concerned, at least, concerned enough to wander back over, crouching at the edge of the hotspring with evident concern.

"... You alright?" It gives him a chance, at least, to turn this around on Naoya.

"I'll be fine. It's just memories." He blinks owlishly for a moment before lashing out and grabbing Kazuya's leg.

It wasn't planned, but he's definitely going to take advantage of what he can.

And he's successfully grabbed, but only because Kazuya doesn't think that Naoya would grab him like this. As it is, he gives him a wary look.

"If you so much as think about trying to pull me in I am going to drown you. Just so we're clear."

Not thay he can, thanks to their contract, but! He can still threaten him.

And also brace himself so that it's impossible for him to get dragged in.

"You wouldn't. ... But you have the strength to do so now where you wouldn't before. So talk." It's not like Naoya can hurt Kazuya either.

They're at a standstill, clearly. He's got to break it somehow.

"What do you think your friends would say about you being so difficult?" This could backfire, but...

"I would. I just wouldn't fully commit." To drowning him, at least.

"They wouldn't say anything, because they'd know that nothing has happened, because I wouldn't let anything happen."

Except, if Atsuro was here, maybe he wouldn't even be in the situation he'd been in in the first place. There's no doubt in his mind that he'd let him snack on him, though there's no way in hell he'd do that to Yuzu. She's already terrified of him enough as it is.

"Mhm." Naoya looks unconvinced and honestly just tired of the whole charade. "I don't want anyone saying I'm not feeding you right. I know what mag drain feels like. And I know that you're not getting enough unless you're feeding on other people."

He's tired, not dumb. "Just talk to me. ... I know I'm not the most trustworthy of people, but for you? I will be."

"I'm getting enough. If I fed off of other people that'd blow my cover."

No, he's still not ready to crack. Because that would be admitting that he fucked up in a big way, and that it was also Naoya's fault.

He doesn't want him feeling guilty about that.

"It's not like I need that much."

"Do you? I know you've been training. It's not like you to try to hide so many things from me."

He still hasn't let go. "You're being too stubborn. Whatever happened to being honest?"

"Training, yeah. You know, with my fists. And COMP. Not with crazy Bel powers than can level an entire city. That'd be stupid, and you know it."

He'll put his hand on Naoya's arm... And zap him, with the tiniest of Zio spells. Nothing more than a static shock, really. He just wants him to let go.

"As if every spell can level a whole block."

Naoya just blinks at the spell and laughs. Genuinely laughs, head falling back. "You're going... to have to do... much worse..."

And he knows Kazuya doesn't want to hurt him.

"You and I both know I won't. And that I can't."

Naoya is right. Kazuya won't hurt him, but is also incapable of hurting him now, due to the contract. The spell was mostly to cause discomfort, more than anything, to maybe surprise him into letting go.

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