songerein | Halloween Nightmare: Part I

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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!]

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[ scoop scoop scoop, scoop out the pumpkin guts! ]

I've.. actually never really tried..

[ she's an artist on the gymnast's mat, but that's about all, sumire has never really tried her hand at anything artistic otherwise. ]

But it can't be that hard.. right?

[ famous last words.. ]

I really don't know. When I watch other people it looks easy. It might be a good idea to take it slowly so we won't get hurt.

[ He looks at the edge of the knife and turns it over to the side. ]

A blade like this can still be sharp. Let's avoid potential accidents!

[ people can get hurt when they're cooking too its not unheard of! So the caution is necessary.]

Yeah, most things are like that I think..

[ everything always looks easier than it is! now that sumire's pumpkin is thoroughly emptied, she wipes the slime off of it with a cloth then picks up one of the nearby markers, ready to scribble on a face.. but she pauses thoughtfully, tapping her chin. ]

Hmm. Should I make it a happy face, or a scary face? Maybe a sad face?

A happy face might be nice. When I see people who are happy and at peace it makes me feel good too.

[ He smiles himself just thinking about it and talking positively. ]

Isn't it the same for you? A smile won't hurt.

[ a scarier face might look cool in lights but Nier wonders if that could be too scary. ]

[ aww man, nier sure is such a nice guy!! sumire smiles brightly. ]

A happy face it is, then! So let's see here..

[ with her tongue poking from the corner of her mouth in concentration, sumire begins to doodle a face onto her pumpkin, her magic marker squeaking away. when she's finished, she turns it toward him. it's uh.. not very good.. but she tried her best.. ]

What do you think?

It looks amazing! You really put your heart into it, didn't you?

[ That's what matters to him the most out of everything. It didn't matter to him if it looked good. Sumire seems earnest about her efforts and that's enough for him.]

The pumpkin looks happy now.

[ sumire's smile is like pure sunlight when she beams at him, clearly pleased. ]

Thank you!

[ turning the pumpkin back around toward her, sumire begins to carefully carve it, starting with the eyes. ]

You know, you're a really nice person.

Huh?

[ Nier doesn't think he's doing anything special. He's just an ordinary person trying to get by. He's blinking curiously and staring at her with wide eyes.]

It's only normal to be kind to others. A bit of kindness can go a long way. Don't you think so? I just want to do my part.

[ He remembers how the villagers from his home would be overly kind to him and expect nothing back. So Nier tries to the same thing when he interacts with others like Sumire. ]

Of course I agree, but not everyone is so kind.

[ sumire of course knows many lovely people, wonderful people, but she's known some terrible ones as well.. mankind is a spectrum of personality, for better or for worse. but she's pretty sure she's not heard nier say a bad thing about anyone or anything at all from the moment they met. ]

I meant it as a compliment, of course.

Um, thank you Sumire.

[He tries to speak with a more gentle tone and makes an appreciative gesture. Nier isn't so good with compliments, but he nods and accepts it. ]

Have you met anyone who's given you trouble either here or back home? Everyone comes from different places and I don't know what your world is like.

[ yeah, sorry nier, compliments are difficult to accept.. she's really bad at it too, alas. but that won't keep her from giving them out! ]

Me? Sure, plenty of times. I live in a big city, with lots of people, so it's easy to run into some who are.. not so nice.

[ pop, out comes the eyeball piece, and she begins to work on the other. ]

That must be a lot to deal with. I lived in a smaller village that didn't have many people. It was quiet sometimes.

[ He wonders how Sumire goes into a city without getting lost. There so much to keep up with. ]

So you're amazing for being able to manage through all that.

Well.. I don't know. I guess I'm used to it.

[ she certainly wouldn't consider herself amazing. ]

It's all I've ever known, really. There are all different sorts of people.

That much is true! Even back in my village everyone was kind of doing their own thing too.

I went to a city one time and it was by the ocean! Do you like the sea?

[He spend lots of time fishing while he was out in the city so that's what his city experience had been like. ]

The sea? It's pretty nice, yeah!

[ pop! out comes the other eye, and sumire is now sawing through the mouth. ]

I'm usually too busy for nice vacations, but the ocean is beautiful, and I love the smell of the salty air.

Life can get busy and sometimes its hard to find time and relax.

[Nier remembers always going out for work and never finding a moment of peace. In that regard, he can understand what Sumire means when she says she's too busy for vacations.]

The ocean is beautiful, but I can't swim in it. I never learned how to swim properly. You might be good at that sort of thing.

What! Really?

[ sumire can't remember the last time she went for a swim, but still.. she's never felt someone who cannot swim before! her surprise definitely shows. ]

You don't know how to swim? That's an important skill! Maybe you can learn here?

Really! I sink like a rock when I'm in the water.

[He frowns and sighs.]

...There was nobody who could teach me how to swim back home. Are you good at swimming, Sumire?

[ too bad you don't have cr with my other character, she excels at swimming!! ]

Me? Well, I'm no Olympic swimmer, but I do know how to swim. I can at least give you a few tips!

[ ikr? If it's Alisaie this conversation would have turned out differently. ]

That would be great. Did it take you a while to learn? I don't know if I can handle anything too complicated.

[ alisaie would get his ass swimmin' in no time!! ]

Hmm, no, not really! I learned as a child, with floatation devices. With your history of sinking, maybe we should get you a few of those, too..

[ nier needs his swimmies.. ]

[ He needs swimmies and a life guard.]

You learned when you were just a kid? That's crazy.

[ ??? What kind of magic is she using that lets her swim so easily??? ]

Most of the kids in my village wouldn't even get close to the water. I don't know how you managed that.

[ apparently in replicant world buoyancy does not exist!! ]

It really wasn't so bad! Learning things when you're young is a lot easier than learning as an adult.

[ she looks up from her pumpkin. ]

.. but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still try to learn! I'm sure you can do it! Besides, not knowing how to swim can be dangerous, too.

I've definitely encountered danger in watery areas before. There was this one time I couldn't cross a bridge properly so I fell into the river.

[ Everybody sinks when you're in Nierland. Oops. ]

It was really bad. Do you think I could avoid something like that if I learned how to swim like you?

Oh my gosh, were you okay? Well, I guess you were, you're still here..

[ silly question, sumire!! ]

But yeah, definitely! Knowing how to swim can save your life.

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