{ surprise eggs }

[dreamposts]

SURPRISE EGGS

A few days after the Tree of Stories has been established, there's a startling announcement that is spread throughout town: there are eggs in the room at the top of the tree! Two large eggs about a foot and a half long and half as wide can be found nestled in a nest. The owls have no idea what kind they are, where they came from, or how they got there and can only assume it must have appeared along with the tree. But the eggs are clearly unusual as they can move and jiggle about, often responding to what's going on around them. A lot of extra hands will be needed to ensure the eggs are protected and hatched safely.

Note: This log is open to everyone and doubles as a "Character Intro" for new characters who were just accepted this round. As a reminder, new characters are welcome to use their TDM threads and consider April as their first month in Song so that they're not really "new" if players wish to do so! Starting fresh is also acceptable.

The log has two parts, with the first portion focusing on the eggs and the second half forward dated to when they eventually hatch. Since the log is mostly isolated to the Tree of Stories, what happens here won't affect the character base at large. Any questions can be directed here. We'll ask for thread submissions during Activity Check at the end of the month.

I. EGGSITTING

The interior of the room housing the eggs is fairly large, almost as large as an entire floor of a one story house. There are no other rooms or doors, so it is an expansive space. There are, however, various furniture pieces such as a large table with chairs, large beanbag cushions, numerous pillows and blankets, and hanging from the ceiling are white and red crystals. The largest side has a large stained glass window that filters the sunlight to change into different colors.

A. Egg Warmers. Although no one knows what kind of eggs these are, it's decided the eggs should be taken care of. There's already a nest, but the eggs will need more than that—they even look like they're shivering! Calls for blankets, fabrics, and materials to tidy up and liven up the nest are made, as well as volunteers to watch and make sure the eggs are comfortable. However the eggs are picky! They like bright colors and they will push out anything they don't like.

» BONUS: ROOM DECORATION. The room is a bit bare, and whatever is going to hatch from it will need their own space to sleep! Help redecorate the room to make it more comfortable and cozy for its future baby tenants. The eggs will seem to notice and glow a bit brightly as more things are added, but they will also shake violently if something they don't like is put in, the item either burning or slimed. Anything colorful and shiny will be a hit.

B. Temperamental Eggs. Unfortunately, eggsitting is more difficult when the eggs can exhibit emotions. Just like a newborn, the eggs will go in random bursts of emotions and it causes a bizarre assortment of effects. Sudden loss of gravity as everything in the room suddenly floats in the air; everything changing different colors; sudden temperature changes; strange music filling the air. Even worse when the eggs decide to move and roll around, risking injury as there are a lot of things they could bump into or spaces they can get stuck in. Sometimes they will try to deliberately run away from their sitters as if playing a game of tag. The only way to counter the effects and to calm the eggs down is with opposing dreamotion effects, so anything positive or calming. Perhaps reading stories, playing music, or singing lullabies will also help soothe them.

C. Egg Thieves! Somehow or another, three-headed lizards are trying to steal the eggs. However they're quickly identified by the owls as Erasers, the Story Eater's minion. But they seem to have noctaere elements to them as well, which is fortunate as it means dreamotion will work well against them. Should the lizards manage to make it into the room, the eggs will emit a loud ringing sound like a shrill alarm and the room will react to the threat. Fire erupting on the walls, storm clouds inside the room, ice covering the floor, strange black ooze that tries to trap people in place, the tree branches coming alive as fiery thorned vines whips—all out to try and eliminate everything. Unfortunately, those who are also trying to help rescue the eggs may get caught in the crossfire. Volunteers are requested to help guard outside, including on the large branches. As soon as a creature is spotted, it needs to be destroyed quickly! Using strong dreamotion abilities will help drive them out, and be careful as the tree will also lash out from the outside as well. The lizards themselves will spit out acid and inflict nightmare energy that can momentarily cause any who get hit to temporarily be afflicted by hallucinating one of their darkest fears.

II. HATCHLINGS

Sometime later in the month the eggs will finally hatch to reveal two very small winged kirin-like foals. One is a male with an orange yellow hue with a fiery mane and tail that flicker like a true blazing fire, his wings tipped crimson. The other is a female with a dark blue hue, with a silvery white mane and tail always flowing even when there isn't wind and small clouds appearing at her hooves. Although they cannot speak much, they can say their names: Perlios and Elimei. They don't know where they came from or who their parents are, but they prefer to stay in the tree where they feel safest. The lizard Erasers will also cease their attempts and no longer appear, providing some peace. Unfortunately, while Perlios is fairly active and curious, Elimei usually remains curled up in the nest and is plagued by nightmares.

A. Pastry Run. Seeing his sister suffering from nightmares, Perlios takes it upon himself to try and bring her things to cheer her up! Venturing into town, the sweet scent of baked goods attract his attention and with a bit of dreamotion magic, he brings them to life so they can march right on up to the tree. Unfortunately, he's a baby and it causes all sweet treats to take on interesting forms to run amok through town instead. This can be a little upsetting and cause Perlios's dreamotions to make every other food around him burn to a crisp. Help Perlios gather the runaway baked goods to bring back to Elimei.

» BONUS: MAKING GIFTS. Help Perlios make other gifts that could help cheer up his sister. This could be other baked goods, toys, or other shiny crafts they might enjoy.

B. Buried Book Hunt. Sometimes Perlios manages to sneak out and cause some mischief. This takes the form of grabbing books from the library and burying them in the ground. Why? To annoy the owls. Fortunately it's around the tree, but the Tree of Stories is massive, so it's a lot of ground to cover. Searchers will get some clues by seeing life sized paper cut outs of the story characters circling in place where the book is buried. However, retrieving the books may be a little difficult as depending on the genre, the cut outs may interfere, especially if they are horror based and monsters have spawned. Other books may have other elements of their stories creep out, like miniature castles or giant puddles. They can be dealt with, just a bit bothersome. Help recover the books quickly before the owls blow a gasket.

C. Nightmares. Elimei remains in constant sleep and can often be found making small sounds of distress as she seems to be trapped in nightmares. Nothing seems to wake her up, but dreamwalking and dealing with those nightmares can help. A few owls watching over them will alert anyone nearby when she is having one and will ask them to quickly dreamwalk into it to help end it. But the dreams are strange—could they have some secret meaning?

1. Moon Rabbit. The dreamscape is set on a strange rocky, gooey black surface with the sky a bizarre green with purple stars that twinkle in and out of existence. In the distance a small strange looking white rabbit can be seen hopping about as if trying to escape from something. The "something" is quickly revealed to be a strange looking fox . The goal is to rescue the rabbit from the fox and help it gather mooncakes that are also being stolen by the fox.

2. Monster v. Hero. Here the hero of the story is terrorizing and hurting the people they are supposed to protect, whereas the monster that is supposed to be the villain is now fighting against the hero to try and save them. While one person will find themselves transformed into some kind of monster character type, the other can either be a fellow monster or some other side character to assist fighting the "hero," OR the other person could take the place of the hero instead and will behave violently and must be stopped. The cause of the "hero"'s strange behavior is due to an abomination found latched onto their back. Destroying the abomination will free the "hero" from the mind control, but it won't be easy as the "hero" must be defeated first before the abomination will release its hold. Saving the hero will restore everything back to order and end the nightmare.

3. Crumbling Library Tower. The first thing dreamwalkers will notice is they will find themselves looking a bit paper thin as they are now mostly two-dimensional and appear like a paper cut out, similar to those seen from the buried books. Movements are limited, which is unfortunate as the floor is immediately starting to crumble and give to a black abyss below. In this form they must climb up a spiraling tower of books while grabbing shining pages that stick out. Finding three will be enough to stop the process and additional pages will help rebuild the tower. Of course the ascent is filled with razor blades and scissors that will try to cut the climbers, so they must be avoided, deflected, or blocked. Any who fall into the abyss will be immediately ejected out of the nightmare and will need some time to recover.

» BONUS: DREAMOTION FOCUS. While dreamwalking is the main method to help Elimei, focusing positive dreamotion energy to the small foal will help as well. Sharing one's good dreams via the crystal lantern is another method. There is also black ooze that starts to pool around Elimei that can be cleared away with positive dreamotion, especially those filled with hope and love.

Comments

a-2! Build a bear~!

[thegamesafoot]

[ Word about the hatchling foals spread quickly to Sholmes' ears, and it's not long before he reappears at the Tree of Stories to get a proper look at the creatures. The detective sets his arms akimbo, glancing between the young woman, the new foals, and the spread of materials.

For all the times his flatmate daughter has made cute stuffies, he's never actually observed—much less learned—the esoteric process. ]

My dear, I should like nothing better! Consider me your eager apprentice in the art of bear construction. [ He bows, then takes a cross-legged seat, briefly casting a glance at fitfully-sleeping Elimei. ] The poor thing suffers a troubled sleep, doesn't she?

HERLOCK MY BELOVED...

[mermaidcursed]

( nene almost smiles, before attention is drawn back elimei. ... she doesn't understand what's happening to her, but it's sad, isn't it? so for every toy and treat she makes, she hopes it helps a little. )

Yeah... but. She doesn't have to face it alone. And when she wakes up, she'll have gifts to comfort her.

( speaking of... snip snip. )

I'll make a second pattern so you'll have it available to use and reference, okay? but this one's design is really easy.

*strikes a pose*

[thegamesafoot]

Fussy babies do benefit from a bit of distraction. [ Sholmes agrees, all too knowingly as he unbuttons his cuffs and rolls up his sleeves. ]

I shall follow your expert lead. [ He leans an elbow on his knee and peruses the selection of fabric. A swatch of jade green catches his eye and he offers it up for Perlios' approval. Then, to the young woman: ]

Herlock Sholmes, by the way. Consulting detective—and budding seamster. What shall I call you, Miss Bearsmith ... ?

[mermaidcursed]

( its hard not to giggle at his dramatics- but not in a bad way, certainly. it's endearing, and kinda makes her feel important! nene smiles as she traces the original pattern onto another sheet of paper. it's not as flexible as she'd like, but it works- )

My name is Nene Yashiro! I came here during the flower festival- did you get to go, Sholmes-san? --Oh, that's a nice color.

( and it seems like perlios agrees! maybe a nice, pale pink bow would match? oh, but that's his choice, and more for a finishing touch. )

[thegamesafoot]

[ And for his part, Sholmes always appreciates an audience so receptive to his theatrics. ]

I did, indeed. I must say, it was a lovely time. More flowers than I've ever seen in my entire life! They wrought utter havoc on my delicate sinuses!

[ The name and the honorific don't go unnoticed, and as he pokes through sewing notions, he asks: ] You come from the Empire of Japan, Miss Yashiro? I have several dear friends from the country. No doubt you'll run into them before long.

[mermaidcursed]

Mmhm! I think I got to meet Susato-san, she was very nice.

( though, they haven't been an actual empire for a hot minute now... but ohhhh that is SO much she doesn't want to get into at all right now. she's not hanako- she's not good at explaining things like that. with sewing, at least, she can show. )

I loved it- it was amazing! I kinda miss the flowers, actually... okay, okay, so the pattern here is done for you, so what you're gonna wanna do is use these pins here to pin it to the fabric so it's nice, straight and doesn't move while you're cutting your shapes out.

( as she speaks, she makes a point of arranging the pieces of the pattern onto his fabric, close together enough to save scrap but not get in the way of each other, and then demonstrates how to pin it precisely. )

[thegamesafoot]

Yes! You and Miss Susato must have gotten on quite well. [ Sharing the bittersweet secrets of teenaged girls, surely!

Sholmes watches Nene's process with keen interest. The pattern shapes are mostly unidentifiable, but if he tilts his head, he can make out what's to become an ear or a leg? Who knew a simple stuffed bear was so complicated when flattened out into its constituent parts?

He pulls his goggles into place and swaps the lenses to a pair that look suspiciously like bifocals. No, his eyes are definitely not going bad. This is for uh, ... safety purposes!

Thus equipped, he begins pinning as she instructs. His fingers are deft enough, even covered as they are with scars, both old and new. ]

Where did you learn to sew with such confidence?

[mermaidcursed]

She was sweet, but I didn't wanna get in the way of her work too much- and then everything ended and I've just been focusing on trying to adjust, you know?

( after all, she may know some self-sufficient skills, but... she's never been away from home like this before, or on her own. being alone in the treehouse is. new.

she'll come to like it, probably. but worrying someone wouldn't do, so she'll smile through it. )

I taught myself, actually! I spent a couple years learning to garden, sew and cook, but Momma was pretty busy and Daddy... Daddy is good with other things, so, I did it myself. I like gardening the most, actually.

( love is stored in the fresh vegetables )

[thegamesafoot]

[ Work. That sounds about right for Susato. ] She's very industrious, to be sure. However, I highly encourage pulling her away from her work. Tell her Mr. Sholmes sent you!

[ As he spends more time pinning, his hands adjust to the motion, picking up speed. ]

Gardening as well! You would have a lot to talk about with my flatmate, Iris. [ There's a very brief pause before flatmate, as if he was considering a different word. ] She has a vibrant green thumb and is quite handy at sewing. I would introduce you, but alas—she's back in London.

[ Between her own admission about "adjusting" and a general sense of wavering under that smile, he can't help but wonder: ] Have your parents followed you here? Or did you leave them in Japan?

[mermaidcursed]

She's super diligent, huh? I bet she'd get along with my friend Aoi, but...

( well, she's not here right now. and neither is his iris- though, given that pause... who is iris to him, truly? nene glances up at him curiously, but ultimately...

its not her place to pry, is it? especially because if she did voice her guess she'd be horribly wrong and nene does not need that embarrassment. )

... No, they're not here. One of my friends was at the festival, but I guess he must have woken up? I hope you can see Iris again soon though. I'd like to meet her!

[thegamesafoot]

[ Nene might be the youngest person Sholmes has encountered here. By his reckoning, she must be a year or two shy of Gina or Susato's age, and she doesn't have the scrappy, streetwise look of an East End orphan. To be here without family or friends must be difficult indeed.

Then again, she's comfortable enough to indulge in some crafting, so maybe she's not that bad off ... ? Still, he can't help but be compelled by fatherly concern. ]

You never know who you might run into! Plenty of familiar people drift in and out of Reverein. And a plethora of fascinating strangers.

[ Sholmes remembers the task at hand and takes up a pair of shears to begin cutting. Easy enough. ]

Have you found a place to stay, Miss Nene?

[mermaidcursed]

Mmhm. There was a little treehouse that was open, and it's not like I need a lot of space!

( her flower crown from the festival is hanging on the wall, and she's stringing up decorations constantly- already planning for a windowbox garden, though she wishes she had space for a vegetable garden too.

she does not know about the farmlands yet. )

... It'd be nice to see some friends here. I bet they'd have lots of fun!

[thegamesafoot]

[ Sholmes relaxes slightly. He was on the brink of inviting her to stay at the Mikotoba treehouse. Not that it's his place to bring around strays when he's a guest himself. ]

If you find yourself wanting company, do stop by the greenhouse. There's usually someone around tending the plants. More than a few are unique to Songerein—including some singing flowers that I have half a mind to rip up. [ If Mikotoba wasn't so charmed by them ... ] They'd be more tolerable if they added more songs to their repertoire.

[ He snips out the last of the pattern pieces and begins trying to guess at their arrangement. It's clear that if he's left to his own devices, he would turn this bear into a mutant. ]