Halloween Nightmare: Part I

[dreamposts]

✵ HALLOWEEN NIGHTMARE: PART I ✵

It comes without warning. A few nights before Halloween, when the moon is supposed to be full and bright, it suddenly blinks out and turns pitch black. Even the stars seem to be covered, casting a strange darkness all over Songerein. While the fae sense something unusual, the newly arrived people—the dreamwalkers—all suddenly fall over asleep as if struck by a curse. Thick, black fog covers the town and one by one their bodies glow bright before converting into dream energy and disappearing into their crystals.

Alarmed, the tapirs investigate, some plunging deep into the realm of dreams to try and find wherever they went. What they discover is something they had never seen before—a massive dreamscape rippling through the dimensions, one full of life, color, and sound. It's as if its own little world, unaware that a giant group has dropped in uninvited. Before the dreamwalkers can be too confused, the tapirs send out a message via their crystals:

Careful, Dreamwalkers! We don't understand what's happening, but you have entered an unusual dreamscape, one where everyone here believes this to be their own world. It feels unstable, to the point where if too much disturbance happens it could turn this entire place into a nightmare! One that could affect Songerein!

Good news is it looks like they're throwing a huge party, so maybe if you just have fun and help out, it will pass quickly and you can return. There's a strange barrier that prevents anyone from coming out of the dream normally...but, we'll figure it out! Just try and have fun, okay?

That might be a tall order for some, but there's little choice. Already everyone has been outfitted in appropriate costumes that serve as "disguises"—some more realistic than others—allowing them to blend in. So long as they follow along and don't cause any disruptions, the locals won't bat an eye. However, the moment someone behaves oddly, such as speaking of other worlds or not behaving in a "frightfully ghoulish" manner when expected, the locals will start eying them with suspicion and small cracks will start to form in various places, most notably the sky where are a large grinning moon watches over everything. Fortunately it will take quite a lot before things get dangerous, but care is needed.

Now, what kind of "dream" have they been pulled into?

I . HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL

The town is bustling and looking quite alive despite its rather monstrous and undead citizens. The architecture style is a mix of ye olde Victorian England and steampunk—with bones and spiders and a lot of sharp things, of course. There is a giant cauldron in the center that acts as a fountain, and while touching it won't harm anyone, drinking it might cause a few green, gassy, flammable hiccups and fire breath that goes away after a while. There is even an odd story going around about a crazy witch called Baba Yaga and many wonder if something strange will happen again like all the other years. For now it's advised for everyone to carefully explore while perhaps getting into the various festivities. It's their time of the year after all!

A. Costume Party. Everyone's in a costume and there are plenty of contests and parades for everyone to show theirs off. All are encouraged to do their best and act like whatever they're dressed up as, and some may even be pulled into random impromptu "acts" for fun. Cute little black cats with witch's hats will hop on their heads and drop some special candy as a "reward." What could be so suspicious about this? (Yes, this is the cursed candy mentioned in the official details.)

» BONUS: MAGIC THREADS. Some locals need a little help with their costumes and request special thread that can be harvested by the ghoul worms—an underworld version of the silkworm. However, getting to them can be a bit...tricky. The worms need to be scared out of their wits for them to spit out the thread. The next difficult part is capturing the thread and not having it all over one's face. There are also some rainbow spiders who produce colorful threads, but they need to be sweetened up before they'll pass over their hard work.

B. Beware the Food. Of course the food is to die for. No, really, be careful of the food because there's a high chance it's been cursed and will cause one or more of the following: 1) suffer severe food poisoning; 2) become an undead zombie; 3) turn into a ghastly toad; 4) have a Wicked Witch experience and turn into a puddle of goop to then become a slime monster. Except for the first one, these changes are all painless and will just make the affected feel funny for half an hour. For the food poisoning, drinking from the Cauldron in the center of town will cure it, but for those who don't want flame breath, creating a certain witch's brew could be concocted.

» BONUS: WITCH'S BREW: Gather the following items to create the special witch's brew that will not only cure the food poisoning but other maladies as well. Just need a few tails of newt, a couple eyes of mud guppies, and the nails of opossums. Fortunately there are quite a few stores that carry these items so no one has to harvest them themselves, though they are certainly welcome to. If buying, the payment requires five chocolate coins. The catch? All the kids have the chocolate coins so need to somehow get them. Maybe the trick-or-treating can help.

C. Jack-o-Lanterns. There are pumpkins everywhere and an assortment of activities to do with them. From simple pumpkin carving for decoration, to loading them into catapults to see how far they go, to avoiding flaming pumpkin heads flying around causing mayhem. But the real buzz is carving pumpkins for the newly "arrived" skeletons that have unearthed to join the populace. As part of a celebration these special pumpkins will be worn by the new skeletons so the more decorated the better.

D. Trick-or-Treat. Of course there is candy being handed out and thrown out to be passed to the younguns. Some adults may find a giant skull head full of various candies shoved into their hands so they can give them to any excited gremlins. Just beware, those little monsters are more than happy to pull a trick instead, so tricks are also fair game as long as they are eventually given candy. In fact, tricks and pranks are highly encouraged, to the point that some are throwing competitions. Should anyone try to withhold the goods, however...well, curses from children are the worst.

E. Candy Corn Golems. Some candy corn will randomly come together and transform into candy corn golems. They range from knee-high that can do little more than just do feeble punches and throw goop on people's legs to a towering ten foot monstrosity that is ready to launch candy corn missiles that explode into harder gunk that can completely imprison anyone. While some locals might find their presence a suitable chaotic ingredient, many don't as they have no idea how these creatures came to be as the usual hexes and underworld magic seem to have little effect. Yet they are susceptible to the dreamwalking abilities… Most will cheer when a golem is defeated, but some may become suspicious.

» BONUS: FIND THE SOURCE. Even though the golems can be taken care of, the more that only the dreamwalkers can destroy, the more unnecessary attention and suspicion is aroused. Best to figure out where to find what's creating them and put an end to it. Whispers of a "mad witch" and "crazy hag" can be heard and curiously, some of the smaller golems trundle down away from the main chaos through some small alleys. Following them will lead them to a strange house, the magic spilling out unnatural. There are drag marks and broom bits that are tinted blood red and inky black. Stray, tattered pages and black smears can also be found around the house. Attempts to enter the house result in being blown back into the town center cauldron, however as long as attention is drawn to the house then suspicion will reduce from the dreamwalkers.

II. GRAVE WEDDING

Just outside of town is a vast graveyard that stretches for a considerable distance, the madly grinning moon seeming to loom and be its brightest here. Although mostly consisting of graves, there are also large mausoleums and a dilapidated looking chapel. Many live within the graveyard and those not participating in the town's festivities are having their own little parties. There's even a wedding being held at the chapel. However, not everything is going well and a helping hand—connected or not—will be appreciated.

A. Haunted Wedding. What a spooktastic night for a wedding between a bootiful bride and her ghastly groom. The chapel may be old, riddled with holes, and look ready to fall apart at the slightest breeze, but it's the ideal venue for all wicked weddings. With the pews filled with other residents of the town, it looks to be a perfect celebration—until red-eyed goblins suddenly burst through the already broken windows and holes. Some of the guests are quick to fight back (with some thinking it part of the event), but these goblins seem stronger than usual. Anyone who is nearby will be asked to help and get rid of them before they really do wreck the wedding!

» BONUS: GOBLIN SEALS. No matter how many are defeated, more just keep appearing to take its place. A gravekeeper shouts out that they witnessed the goblins appearing near a dark corner of the cemetery, a place known to be heavily cursed and filled with hexes due to all the witches buried there. Those who investigate will find all the graves dug out and each one with a summoning seal inside. Fortunately they are easy to destroy by either casting magic or even chucking rocks to break up the symbol. Destroy them all to stop the goblins, but be careful as some will pop up in the process.

B. Grave Situation. The graveyard is considered as one of the largest neighborhoods with many finding their underground or stone mausoleum homes quite comfortable and even luxurious in some cases. As part of the Halloween prank, tombstones, grave markers, and even coffins have been moved around and the residents are not happy. They'll need help replacing everything, but be warned—some pranksters have gone beyond and boobytrapped some. Triggering the traps will produce sticky webbing, glitter paint, and "bloody" marshmallow slime (it's just dyed red).

» BONUS: HOSTILE NEIGHBORS. There are some undead and skeletons lying in their earthly beds and cramped coffins that will not take too kindly to being disturbed. They are quite aggressive and will outright attack anyone who comes near their homes, even if they aren't in the right place. They need to be restrained and it would be bad news if anyone is severely harmed or worse—destroyed. Careful examination will reveal a strange slip of paper with what looks like a hex symbol on their heads, and if removed they will pass out but return to normal.

C. Nightmare Graves. Some tombstones will have writing that will mysteriously change to words that will provoke those who read it and send them immediately to a nightmare. It could be something completely random or it could be personal with the severity also random. Some dreams will be reflected on the tombstone similar to the crystals while others can be entered via dreamwalking. In either case, the dreamer's body will be lying in repose in front of the tombstone, which will have a line of "Do not disturb" along with cryptic words related to the nightmare.

» BONUS: NOCTAERE. The longer someone stays in a nightmare, the greater the risk in either attracting noctaere into the dream and out into the dreamscape and for the dreamer to become a noctaere themselves. It could be a partial or full transformation, depending on how strong the nightmare and how sensitive the dreamer is. Dreamwalkers must help try to stop the change before it's too late by attempting to change the dream or calm the dreamer. But if the dreamer turns into a noctaere and starts causing havoc within the dreamscape, then they must be subdued physically with dreamotion abilities.

[Mod Note: This is Part I of our event! To look over the official details as well as ask any questions, drop them in the official Event Details post. While we prefer for threads to remain in the event log, players are welcome to take their threads into their own individual logs for personal organization. We only request players to comment to the event log with a link to it so that others can find them more easily!]

Comments

someone PLEASE explain...

[starshower]

[Not so unlike Zhao, Tifa's found herself stuck in a hybrid animal form as well, and while it isn't nearly as disruptive as the sheep's horns she was given on their first day, she can't quite say she appreciates the realism of the werewolf ears and matching tail of this one. Maybe the one thing that's a hassle to deal with are that her nails have grown out into sharp claws, but she's slowly learning how to handle them... Hopefully she won't need to throw any punches later.

She's just as confused as she is while she looks over the "food", ears turning back and tail flicking once in frustration.]

I know just as much as you do.

[This so-called "Halloween" wasn't a thing that was celebrated on Gaia either, so this is all brand new to her as well. The jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins, the ghosts, the skeletons and costumes... What is happening?]

Not sure how I feel about it, though...

[She doesn't like spooky supernatural stuff, as Zhao might recall!]

[seemagicshit]

Well, we're smart people. Nearest I can figure, everyone needs a costume, there's candy and decorations. Also spooky shit.

So...I feel like we have to fit in so do we scare the shit out of people for that to happen? Or steal candy? Because I am down for either thing if that's what we gotta do.

[starshower]

Steal candy?

[Tifa looks around at the kids wandering through the festivities, and although she remains wary of them, she can't say it seems odd what they're doing.]

Aren't they giving it away for free? They say you're supposed to go up to them and yell "trick or treat".

[What's supposed to happen after that is anyone's guess, but her guess is that you get candy for it.]

[seemagicshit]

So there's a password to get candy?

[Why is this so complicated? But he supposes if they want to fit in, they could try the password.]

I've into clubs with less trouble. All right. Let's try approaching someone with the password and see what happens.

[starshower]

[A password is a very apt way of putting it. So much so that in spite of their circumstances, Tifa can't help but laugh about it. She hadn't thought of it that way, but it's amusing all the same.]

There's a bunch of kids over there. Let's try them.

[She points to the end of the table where there are four kids—two witches, a werewolf, and a vampire—all giggling while they stand around hunched over something on the ground between their feet. Tifa is the one to lead the way, and when they both arrive, they hush and hiss at each other, which definitely raises some suspicions...

"Be quiet!" the vampire snaps at them before they all turn around with large, innocent smiles. "What is it?"]

[seemagicshit]

[Zhao opens his mouth, showing off the massive tiger canines and lowers his voice to a growl.]

Trick or treat.

[The little kids are standing around looking expectantly. Zhao shoots Tifa a confused look. Were they supposed to get candy or give candy? Fuck if he knows.]

[starshower]

[Tifa has no idea what's going on either, and her ears twitch back when they all look at her expectantly now. Her brows furrow, and her tail curls between her legs, and...]

Trick... or treat?

[...

The silence is too uncomfortable, and she tries her best not to let the whine that's bubbling up in her throat let loose. What does the trick or treat even mean? What is the "or" all about?

But then, one of the kids smirks and reaches into his pumpkin shaped bucket to pull out two small chocolate bars that he holds out for them.

"Here you go."]

Wow, I felt the awkward from another country away

[seemagicshit]

Thanks!

[He takes one and lets Tifa take one and they back away.]

So it's all about the password, hunh?

[To which he thinks about it for a moment. What did they actually get, though? He takes his chocolate bar and sniffs it very carefully.

It smells like chocolate but then he thinks some more.]

I know chocolate's bad for dogs, but what about cats?

😂

[starshower]

[Given the children's expressions, she isn't sure that she's fully willing to trust the chocolate just yet, although she's unwrapping it to give it a sniff. It doesn't help that after backing off from the kids, they're all still standing there watching them with the same expectant grins.

Either they're waiting to see what they think, or there's something up with the chocolate. She shouldn't go around expecting the worse, but she knows how kids can be sometimes...

The bridge of her nose twitches.]

I mean, I'm sure it's fine, right? It's not like we're real cats and dogs.

[Yet.]

We can try taking a small bite together, at the same time.

[seemagicshit]

I'm gonna regret this but sure. One two three.

[And down the hatch it goes. It actually tastes pretty good. But he's used to being trolled by his friends for less so he's waiting for his fur to turn green or some crazy shit to happen.]

[starshower]

[Tifa unwraps the chocolate and bites it in half on his count, and honestly? It's pretty good. Surprisingly good, but she'll still wait a moment before eating the rest. Like Zhao, she's waiting for something to happen—for what?

But when nothing happens, she eats the rest.]

Not bad.

[So far, so good.]

[Famous last words, though? Famous last words.

There's a large puff of smoke that surrounds Tifa only seconds after she's said that, and in her place is the smallest black and white puppy Zhao may have ever seen, ears much too big for her head that they flop lazily on either side, and tail flapping madly behind her.]

... Not again.

[seemagicshit]

Well. Fuck.

[Because now he transforms into the most adorable tiger cub ever! You just want to blow raspberries into his belly!

Which makes Zhao quietly seethe. He is not cute, goddammit.]

Do you think we're too small to murder someone?

[starshower]

Probably.

[And too slow, and although the kids are already long-gone, Tifa can still hear their giggles from here. Sometimes, having the good hearing of a dog is not the greatest thing to have.]

Best we can hope for are some ankle bites, if we can even catch up.

[She lifts a small paw to show it off, as if to remind him that their small legs will only carry them so far. She'd be a little more amused about how adorable Zhao is, and how a tiger cub cursing is hilarious... if she weren't also the size of a flowerpot.]

I don't know how these tricks work, but last time this happened, they had to turn me back themselves...

[seemagicshit]

I'm pretty sure if I gnaw an ankle hard enough, I get either a vein or an artery.

[At least he's not a newborn tiger cub. He is, however, bigger than Tifa and can move around.]

See if you can flop on my back. I need to perform a murder.

[starshower]

[Oh, is he... going to carry her on his back?

Honestly, it's not a bad idea, and although she isn't one to condone murder, she would like to find these children and have them reverse the curse they put on the pair of them, and make sure that Zhao doesn't come out of here with a bounty over his head, so... Without much of a protest, she peers up at Zhao's back, and tries to jump...

But she falls (very) short of making it on top and ends up toppling and rolling over several times instead.

She hates this. So much.

A little bit of help, maybe...?]

[seemagicshit]

[Okay, you know what? We'll have to improvise. Tiger cub Zhao is bit enough that he's got a bit of strength so he grabs Tifa by the scruff of her neck in his jaws and in that way, starts trotting over to where the kids headed.

At least he can't do a murder while carrying a puppy? The scene is so adorable?]

[starshower]

[The scene may be adorable and amusing, but Tifa looks far from amused when she's picked up in Tiger Cub Zhao's mouth instead, as if she were an unruly kitten herself. She's already been through this once before, and hadn't intended to do it again, but alas... here she is, hanging out of his jaw with her tail between her legs.

The kids don't get far, at least, and are enticed by a decorative shop window down the street, dressed to the nines in more Halloween-y, spooky scary goods.

Tifa's ears perk up.]

Those were the kids, right? ... Let's not do anything, uh... rash, okay?

[As long as he keeps her there, then at least his teeth will be preoccupied with that.]