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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[Hans can almost see the precise moment when the pastry goes through him, his tail almost excitedly bouncing because extra limbs he's not used to are hard to control. But the prince doesn't notice, only watching Balthus slowly realize that he's been betrayed by a pastry. A harsh thing.]

No, I'm feeling quite well, sir. [A worried look soon begins to spread across Hans' face, with his eyes darting to his face and neck as Balthus' skin starts to shift into a different color.]

There's something wrong-- you're turning grey. [He takes a step closer, as if wanting to offer his support to him.]

[Truly, Top 10 Anime Betrayals material right here. Nobody should ever be betrayed by a pastry.]

You sure? You look kinda—

['Uneasy' was what he'd been about to say, but as Hans clarifies, Balthus frowns and lifts his arm to see that indeed, the skin exposed beneath the cuff of his sleeve is rapidly losing all color.

Well. Would you look at that?]

... alright, that's not normal.

[Hans has serious competition here. He's not sure he can beat a pastry.

But Balthus' lack of alarm at least signifies that he's probably okay for the most part. Or at least, the more terrible effects haven't happened just yet. Maybe he'll turn grey and then just drop dead afterward. That would be quite tragic.

He steps close enough so that he can place a hand on his shoulder, the worry from earlier still evident.]

You don't feel ill or weak? You're becoming deathly pale, and I may not be a doctor, but I know that's not a good sign.

[The hand on the shoulder might be enough for Hans to find Balthus oddly cold to the touch— his jacket is in the way, of course, but he's not quite radiating warmth the way a normal person should be.]

I don't think so? I mean, I don't even know what feeling weak would be like.

[... he might be taking that part a little too literally. How could someone with muscles like his ever feel weak, huh?]

I just feel kind of... tired. And seriously cold— I was fine just a few minutes ago!

[He is definitely cold and given that he's supposed to be a dog-- wolf of sorts, this is alarming. Of course, the pale visage of the other man speaks for itself as well.]

...You must've felt powerless at some point in your life. [It actually takes Hans a good deal of effort to stop himself from rolling his eyes or making some uncharacteristically sarcastic comments. Not this time.]

Let's get you warmed up, sir.

[He pulls away from Balthus, stepping back a couple of feet so that he can create a couple of blankets for the other man to use. Unfortunately, they aren't made of the best material, since he's still trying to improve on his dream energy, but they're better than nothing.] I'm not sure if we can trust any of the food or drink here to warm you up, but I can ask around and see if anyone else has had similar reactions. Perhaps they know of a cure.

Nope, not once.

[The response is almost immediate, a little too off-handed. If nothing else, Balthus is confident in his strength and vitality.

He looks a little surprised by Hans' use of dreamotion energy— right, he remembers, they can do that— but more than that, he lets his pride slip enough to show that he's grateful.]

Thanks— that's pretty handy. I should really get practicing that, myself...

[He may have been a bit neglectful of that potential so far.]

Wait, do you think it was the food that did this?

[Hans almost wants to scoff at that response, but seeing how earnest he was earlier, he doesn't actually think Balthus is lying to him. Of course, this means that he's lived a life of always feeling capable, with nothing or no one to really bring him down to a low point. It must be nice, it's a sort of power that he wants for himself.

Guess the next best thing is to drag Balthus down, but the pastry is already doing the work. Okay, he's found his new best friend.]

I can't think of another reason why you'd suddenly turn gray, sir. You started to change as soon as you bit into that.

[Yeah, the pastry is long gone from Hans' person now. He's tossed it at some point, he'll just say it was because of his worry about his friend. Hans shakes his head, still worried about all this.] Truly a devious setup by whoever made the food here...

Edited 2021-10-31 06:07 (UTC)

[To be so deeply betrayed by pastry... it's hardly the first time the food here has been suspicious, either, although he supposes the rules might be a bit different in a dreamscape.]

You think someone poisoned it? Or I guess it could just be magic.

['Just.' He can use some magic, himself, but not like this. Want to toss a fireball or heal a minor wound, he's got that covered, but altering food? It's neither within his range of abilities or even of interest.]

Either way, this is just cruel. How low can you get?!

I believe that to be the case, unfortunately. Whether it was a special poison or magic, all of this seems deliberate.

[He needs to learn that sort of dream magic. Poisoning food is definitely a way to go.]

...Sometimes people are cruel just for the sake of cruelty. I don't understand it myself, but there's always individuals like that. We just have to stand up to such behavior, correct?

[He's totally not like that, because his cruelty has a point! Usually. Okay, not all the time. He didn't have to rub the salt in Anna's wound about not loving her, but. DETAILS.

All of that is in the not so distant past and he's learned his lesson... brag only when he's 100% won.]

Yeah, of course— nobody should just stand around and take it when a bully starts pushing them around! Or poisoning them, I guess.

[Specifics.]

I dunno who's responsible for this, but honestly, I'm feeling even hungrier than I was before I ate that pastry. That doesn't really seem possible.

[Still kind of cold, too, despite Hans' blanket offerings.

Hm.]

...Yes, both actions are very deplorable.

[Hans quietly thinks to himself that there's quite a big difference between simple bullying and poisoning, but hey, what does he know. Nonetheless, the prince finds himself blinking, genuinely surprised that the man is still hungry despite looking gray and cold. And you know, poisoned.]

I don't believe you'll starve if you don't eat anything right away, so try to push down that feeling. We still need to get you warmed up and procure a cure for your current illness.

[...] I'm more than willing to ask around, if you'll be fine sitting here.

[There's definitely a big difference between the two, but if nothing else, Balthus has got the spirit.

He sighs, his lips pulling into a frown.]

Yeah, I'm not worried about starving, really, it's just... I don't know how to explain it. It feels weird.

[A persistent, gnawing hunger, one he can't remember feeling despite having had to go without more than a few times while he'd been on the run back home.]

I can sit tight, though. Might actually be a good idea to just... sit and take a few. You really don't mind?

It might be a side effect of the pastry you've eaten...

[Hans lifts a hand to his chin, as if thinking about the whole thing very seriously. If he made a pastry that wasn't enough to kill someone, he'd definitely make it tasty enough or put something in there where you'd want to eat more.]

Maybe it's the baker's way of trying to get people to eat more of their poisoned food. [Quite devious, indeed. Hans might have to learn something here.]

Please, let me help. If it makes you feel better, you're making me feel useful in all this.

Definitely possible. Man, that's sinister. If you ate enough of it, think about how strong the side-effects could get...

[If he feels off now, he can only imagine how he might feel after three more.]

Anyway, if you're willing, sure. I can be a stubborn guy, but I'm not gonna turn away help when I need it. That's just stupid.

[He may not always be the brightest guy in the room, but he has some good sense.]

I wouldn't want to see you in varying shades of gray! Or even worse...

[The gray that people turn when they're poisoned to death. Or is it a different color?? It's not like he actually sees the outcome when people are killed in that manner, mostly from lack of opportunity.

...Anyway.]

I'll return, I promise you that. [He raises a closed hand to his chest, before bowing slightly.] Before I leave, may I ask your name?

Oh, right— that might be helpful, huh? It's Balthus.

[He must be feeling off, because he doesn't even feel like giving his little King of Grappling schpiel this time around.]

I'll, uh— I'm just gonna sit tight.

And I'm Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.

[And with one final bow, Hans heads off! He might return, just to see how Balthus is doing, but it probably won't be until after the 'poisoning' has worn of. He definitely won't be coming back with any Witch's Brew, so there's truly no point waiting for him. Look, that's some effort to buy that cure and he heard that people feel better after thirty minutes anyway.]

[Thirty minutes pass, and there's no Hans. Balthus himself has started to feel significantly better, but his new friend had said he'd be coming back...

Man. Where'd that guy go, anywhere?]

Must've gotten lost... well, not like I've got anything to lose, right?

[And he's just going to reach for another pumpkin pastry and help himself. It couldn't happen twice, could it?]

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Halloween Nightmare: Part I

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maybe someday he'll HAVE that opportunity

maybe one day.... :>

LMAO I just had to cap this off