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

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran wonders what happens if you die in a triple-nested dream. Even if the answer is an expected nothing, it wouldn't make the process pleasant, he's sure.]

I couldn't just watch.

[The few things he can do in this form were enough, thankfully... even though it's still hard for him to think of being a Fae as anything but a negative. The one major blessing to it here is that it's not a true transformation that he has to deal with once they're all awake again... hopefully.

He turns his attention to Mirai again, though, pulling himself out of his thoughts. He can reminisce later. He doesn't particularly want Mirai to remember him as this creature, though, so he decides to remain hidden as long as he can.]

How'd you get so worn down?

[fatedmahou]

[Most likely nothing. She would have likely fallen into the portal to Denestvia shortly after this had he not arrived when he did. Whether it will still happen in the dream was unknown at the moment.

The moment she gets out of this nightmare, she was bound to have questions for him. Luckily, none of those came to mind for the time being. Things seemed to have quieted down outside. Thank goodness. Gesturing towards the wall.]

There's no rest for the weary. This isn't particularly strange. Cadavers have been a frequent problem since they first showed up years ago.

[Which he could read into that as "people dying is normal".]

Sometimes I wonder how I made it this far...

[noblegarnet]

[The idea that this kind of endless fight for survival is commonplace is hard for him to comprehend. Even Geardagas had a sanctuary of sorts in Aefenglom, for however much of a struggle it was outside those walls. A place to rest, trade, prepare... or just live.

It's... utterly depressing. He'd never liked post-apocalyptic scenarios.]

I don't guess you have somewhere you're headed to.

[fatedmahou]

Not anymore. Even if I returned home, there was be nothing left for me there.

[She had at least thankfully gone back years ago to build makeshift graves for her parents.]

There's no place that's safe here. You just... have to run and dodge. Hope that they don't see you.

They smell fear, you know? [Not true. Just a bad attempt at a joke.]

[noblegarnet]

[Unfortunately, he doesn't recognize it as such, familiar enough with magic creatures with supernatural senses that it seems like a reasonable possibility.]

I...

[can't imagine, really.]

That can't be the only answer...

[He doesn't sound so confident, though; as much as he's given up on his own situation back home, it's easy to see that sometimes, things are just hopeless. But he can't bring himself to say such a thing about anybody else.]

[fatedmahou]

You can fight, of course, but you have to pick your battles carefully. [Gazing towards her cut up arms for a moment...] I... don't have the mana to fight everything right now. Certainly not a hoard. And yet I have no choice in the matter.

I either fight and push myself further into Overdrive, or I give up and let them kill me. But if I die... how else will I be able to save my home...? There's not a lot of us left anymore, but I... I want my life to mean something. I want to help those who can still be saved.

[noblegarnet]

[For a few moments, Ferran simply remains silent, processing everything she's said and the implications that come along with it. But then, when it seems like he might not reply at all, there's a movement of the air as he lands, and she'll feel a pair of invisible arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

Despite the action, he still doesn't let himself be seen. However, he doesn't try to mask the texture of his hair from where he presses the side of his head against hers, or the sound of his shaky intake of breath before he finally speaks.]

... sorry.

[fatedmahou]

[She had no clue who the voice could belong to or where he was so she had no indication of what he was about to do. Feeling the invisible arms wrap around her surprised her, not really sure what to do about it.

Despite the fact that she wasn't sure who was hugging her, she hadn't had any physical contact like this for years. At most, maybe grabbing somebody's hand to pull them away from danger. It was foreign to her now, but comforting all the same. Hearing his single line, she finally snapped out of her daze, trying her best to fight her fear.

Wrapping her own arms around what she might think might be the other person, she didn't say anything at first. She was too busy basking in the affection that she'd been deprived of for so long.]

Silly. There's nothing to be sorry for. This is just how it is here.

[Her voice was shaky, doing her best to act like she was fine like she normally did. It was surprisingly hard when you couldn't really hide what was going on.]

It's thanks to you that I'm still alive right now. I'm sorry that I always cause trouble for the people around me. [Yep. There are the tears forming in the corner of her eyes.]

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran's wings shift to get out of the way of her hands as she returns the gesture, but they leave behind a white, sparkling dust. He shakes his head, the movement clear enough for Mirai to feel thanks to how closely he's holding her.]

Don't... say that.

[Despite how little he knows of her, it's clear to him that she'd do anything to help whoever she could. The idea that she'd be a nuisance or something is the furthest thing from his mind.]

It's not you. In a place like this... how could you be the one causing trouble?

[fatedmahou]

[She can feel what seems like hair with him shaking his head at least. from an outsider's point of view, his words made a lot of sense. Hell, even for someone who was used to this world it made sense. For Mirai who'd suffered from a lot of verbal abuse from family before they all passed away? Deep down she felt like she had to be the cause, it didn't matter that the logic didn't add up.]

Everyone I've ever spent enough time around seems to have something bad happen to them. [Bad like... death.] No matter what I try or how hard I work... I never seem to be able to save those around me.

["You're a cursed child" was one of the painful statements made by family members that never seemed to go away in the back of her mind.]

[noblegarnet]

[In a dying world where nothing is safe, of course everyone is going to meet a horrible fate at some point. But it's not a surprise a survivor would think it was somehow on them... and it's something he thinks about often enough, honestly.

It's just luck—or the consequences of whatever caused all this in the first place.]

That's not your fault.

[He doesn't have all the information, he knows, but he doesn't even care if he might be proven wrong at this point. He says it with conviction.]

[fatedmahou]

[It was that conviction that made her go silent. Of all the things she's been told throughout the years "it's not your fault" was never one of them. She often thought about why she of all people had been able to survive this long. Why did so many people have to die? More importantly... Why did people feel the need to fight each other when there were plenty of other threats to worry about?

Nothing came to mind for a response. She was too busy trying her best not to cry. To break down in front of some invisible stranger. To bottle up her emotions as she'd always done because her feelings weren't important enough to worry about. Being hugged and comforted like this made that a lot harder.]

[noblegarnet]

[Even without looking at her, Ferran can recognize the way she goes silent, the specific tension of holding back tears—because it's something he's done himself. It's easier to pretend everything is fine... to force everything away instead of facing it. To use all your energy to shove it away so you don't worry anyone else. At least, that's what it seems like.]

I know... we basically just met.

[In another time, maybe just a few months earlier, he wouldn't have imagined being so direct. But manners only get you so far when your time is limited.]

But—don't pretend you're fine when you're not.

[fatedmahou]

[That's exactly what it was. It was a lot easier to swallow your tears and act like you were fine than to face them sometimes. Part of her wanted to continue to say that she was fine, but she couldn't bring herself to at this moment. Tightening her grip on him, she buried her head into what she assumes is his chest to hide her tears.]

... I'm sorry. [It came out muffled, but it was clear enough.]

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran sighs quietly, his own arms secure around her.]

I get it.

[He lets her cry for a while in silence, if she needs it. It seems like a safe enough space for the moment, and it seems obvious she needs the space to express herself without judgment.

That said, he knows that it's probably just a matter of time before something dangerous emerges—whether due to the nature of Mirai's dreams, or whatever's at work within the larger dreamscape. After a minute or two, he speaks again:]

... We should get out of here.

[fatedmahou]

[At least she seems to be feeling a little better, but considering what she's used to, she's likely to never really fully recover. Either way, it's enough to make her pull herself together. Rubbing her eyes, she nodded as she tried to wipe the tears away.

He was right. They needed to leave.]

Y-yeah. You're right. There are... more important things to worry about.

[She's mostly just trying to remain positive. Finally picking herself off of the ground -- and away from staining his shirt with her tears -- she carefully peaked outside of the window to check the surrounding area.

Her gaze focused on the other side of what was left of a street.]

What... is that?

[Whatever it was, it looked like something was dissolving and quickly.]

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran wouldn't judge it as "more important" so much as "more immediate," but he doesn't argue the semantics for now, and there's the sound of his wings fluttering as he gets to his feet as well. He follows her gaze, watching what seems to be like pieces of the dream disappearing.]

Maybe it's over now.

[He sounds hopeful. With any luck, they'll see each other on the outside... but then, he hasn't had much luck in a while.]

[fatedmahou]

[She will always argue that her feelings are less important than the dangers around her. Have fun with that later, Ferran.]

Over?

[That didn't bode well for them. It sounded like there was more to that comment than meets the eye. They didn't have the time to sit on that thought either way. The street probably still had Cadavers everywhere but...]

We need to move. Now. [It was not stopping for anything.]

[noblegarnet]

[A quiet breath leaves him. How long had she been on edge like this, always needing to be ready to spring to her feet and run no matter how exhausted? The idea had been new to him a year ago, but even in that short time it had driven him into a terrible place.]

Mirai.

[She hadn't given her name in the dream; even he's aware of that. He hopes it's enough to somehow bring her out of this. His too-long fingers take her hand, calm but firm. He's not running.]

It's time to wake up.

[fatedmahou]

[This is just a normal circumstance for her, unfortunately; Which means her self-preservation instincts make her quick to act in most cases where anything could happen. She had been focused on finding an opening, but hearing her name called out certainly caused her to draw back in surprise. She had never said her name, so how did this person know her name?]

Wake up...?

[She feels his hand over hers as she glances in what is more than likely the direction he was in.]

W-What do you...?

[Interupted, the ground around them started to crumble. She reached out to grab hold of him or anything else at that moment, only to abruptly jolt up to where she had fallen into a deep slumber. Trying to catch her breath after waking up from the nightmare, she took a glance around her to notice the gravestone no longer said anything.

In the nightmare, he hadn't seemed familiar. But now that she was out of it, she instantly recalled that voice.]

....F-Ferran?


[He didn't seem to be anywhere in sight for the time being. If he had seen all of that, it was likely that he was going to want some sort of explanation or answers. What happened? She didn't quite get it. For now, she needed to find him.]