songerein | Halloween Nightmare: Part I

✵ 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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've heard the threat enough it does little, as none have ever succeeded. All they accomplished was their own fall.

[A hell of an implication in those words as well, along with the fact Reaper wasn't going to intimidate easily -or if all- when it came to her.

The spider was furred and was large enough that it was larger than her hand, the other just under incase the arachnid had some trouble- but so far it kept its balance rather well. Alice glanced back towards the pumpkin headed man, an eyebrow still arched ever so slightly.

All through, her tone remained even.]

Quality is better when given when it comes to such magnificent work. I mean, look at the amount of work Miss here has made, the colors and how lovely it looks even in the dimmest of lights.

[The spider was certainly eating up the words, body language even changing as it seemed to preen a little.]

Is that so? Interesting.

[It wasn't strategically worthwhile to throw down in a fight with an arrogant little girl, but he still felt a part of himself tempted. It would allow him to potentially start to establish a reputation in this place, but with 76 here, doing so would offer a wrinkled complication. The old bastard knew too much about him, and he'd been exposed one by Ziegler in Deerington. Repeat performances weren't worth the trouble normally.

He wasn't at all intimidated by the potential that this small girl was able to survive potentially impossible odds. He had seen enough movies about female heroes who could outlast all their male counterparts to be bored with the trope. Now the SEP women - not that any of them were alive anymore - they were frightening women to have a fight with, nimble and strategic.

Spiderwebs earned little more than a shrug. If she wanted to collect the thread so badly, he was fine playing the role of bad cop so that she could acquire it. He wasn't about to woo them on his own because all of this party thread business was useless as far as he was concerned. Filler for what they were supposed to do.]

Is that so? You've clearly never used a high-quality sewing machine. All I'll say is that she has symmetry down to an art, but otherwise, six-out-of-ten from this distance.

One does what one must- no matter what that may be. You overcome threats, and you make them regret trying to control you. Even if some may not agree with that.

[Matter of fact, and something heavier to her tone. There was even a look in those green eyes for a moment before her attention pulled back to focus on the spider in her hand. There was no arrogance, despite the air around her easily mistaken as such; it was a life that no one young should go through, but more often than not- well.

Alice knew what she spoke of from experience, even if there had been no want of it. She did what she had to in order to save herself and survive the trauma.

Her head did tilt with a slightly quizzical look.]

Sewing machine? Those are still a bit in their infancy, last I knew. Hand sewing is still the best for details and anything intricate, and them largely good if you want a lot of something done quickly- factories mostly, and easily take fingers off. [She'd seen one, her mother had it simply to rest her hands and let her sister Lizzie do the more detailed work.] Are they different where you are from?

Still, they don't stand a chance beside the work of someone who puts so much care in to their craft. [Remembering what she was doing then.] Nor do they work so seamlessly with bright colors as this lovely Miss. such hard work and tm gone in to it all, without a doubt.

[The spider still taking the compliments well, at the very least.]

And what if you fail to overcome such threats? Or do you just not fail in such endeavors?

[If she was going to freely give up information, he was more than willing to take it and file it away. It could be useful if he did decide that it was a good time, place and reason to fight her. Of course, he'd probably just sneak attack if it came down to it. Less attention that way; it's how he had offed Chloe after all.

Ah, so if her world had infant sewing machines, he could place an approximate time when she had come from. Like most, she was far in the past compared to when he had come from, which lead to certain advantages and a few disadvantages.] They are quite advanced, and they are perfectly capable of detailed embroidery.

[He snorted and folded his arms over his chest.] You're coming from the Dark Ages to make a comment like that.

I get up, and keep fighting. I refuse to ever give in again, failure is not an end, and it is a lesson I've learned the hard way. What of you, sir? [She had been beaten down, abused, and had so much of her mind shattered and twisted around to suit the want of a horrid creature not fit to be called a man. Alice had come too far to let something like that ever stop her from pushing forward.] If faced with failure, you sound more the type to fight back than let it stop you.

Failure may not always be an option, but when it happens it is not a reason to stop pushing onward.

[She brought the spider closer to herself, still situated in her hand.] Are they? That sounds as if they become something far more useful than taking the fingers off someone struggling on a manufacturing line.

Yet they don't make the threads used, do they? [Fingers drifted along the large furred spider's body as it leaned in to it, seemingly please enough. Still playing this game to praise the spider all for a rainbow spider silk.] It's one thing to work wonders with thread, but it's another to not only work wonders but be the source of materials used in creating something so magnificent.

[At least stroking the ego was sweetening up the spider well.]

[She talked a good talk about endeavoring, but he was more interested to see how true that was. Talk was cheap.] I can't die, so not getting up is not an option for me. I have things that require doing, so I do them. [Failure on one instance also meant that he simply changed tactics and tried again or accepted the failure and moved on with a different part of his plan.] Some failure opens up different opportunities.

[It wasn't as if he could show her the advancements of sewing machines or machines in general. Computerization made them extremely useful and there was definitely less removal of fingers on the line.] They still can remove fingers, but that's a lesson someone learns once, maybe twice before not giving another opportunity.

[It was true that he hadn't seen nice thread like that in this place before, but all the same, thread came in all manner of colours where he was form. That was all part of manufacturing.] Hopefully all the flattery will encourage her to give you enough to actually be useful in a garment.

[Alice hummed, the sound thoughtful. Considering.] Can't die- sounds exhausting, to be honest, if you mean it in a literal sense. Useful in other ways, too. Reminds me of a certain cat I know. [Survived a beheading, after all-] True enough. Some failure has the chance of an advantage, an unforeseen chance that can come as a surprise.

[The 'good' doctor certainly hadn't seen it coming. The surprise on his face before the train wiped him away.

She focused again, rather letting the thought drift further than that, watching the Spider lift a pair of legs, holding it up so it could climb back up along the fencing. Getting to some work as she watched it. Spinning a web much larger, connected with the one it had been on-] Some lessons can only be learned the hard way, I suppose.

That was the idea. [Voice much lower-] Your playing the other side of it has helped, of course. Easier when there's someone to bounce off of, terribly appreciated.

Halloween Nightmare: Part I

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