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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[Seeing the exchange between Balthus and the voidwitch cat gets a smile out of Serah. Her own form is that of a kasha, in very much cat form with pink fur (because of course it's pink). She wanders over, grinning as the black cat trots off.]

I didn't know you liked cats, or is it 'cause it dropped some candy, Jawbreaker?

[yes, that name isn't going anywhere, Jawbreaker Guy.]

I have a name, you know.

[But he's pretty sure she's not going to use it— and if his lopsided grin is anything to go by, he doesn't particularly mind, either.]

We've got a lot of cats wandering around the place back home! Used to havin' them around. None your size, though.

[She's definitely the biggest cat he's ever seen.]

Yeah, but you're just... Jawbreaker Guy! Jawbreaker for short. [She beams pretty brightly at that.] But if you'd prefer me to call you Balthus, I will!

[No use in alienating herself from her giant new friend, right?

Hearing that she's a giant cat though? That makes her laugh a little.]

I don't know why I was chosen to be like this, but I won't complain. Someone important to me calls me something with 'kitty' in the name, so it's like... hm. A reminder, I guess? I don't think it'll win any costume contests, though.

I don't mind it, really— in fact, King Jawbreaker would be even better.

[Look, if King of Grappling isn't going to catch on around here, he's got to try for something. The title is important! The worst part of finding yourself in a new world is having to try and rebuild your reputation. On the other hand, leaving all your debts behind? Pretty great.

He tilts his head to one side as she explains, considering.]

I mean, it might not be the flashiest, but it's nice. It suits you. Kinda nice that this place chose something that's got meaning, right?

[Ah, perfect. He's been converted to the name, just as keikaku! Serah grins widely, giving him an enthusiastic nod and a laugh.]

King Jawbreaker Guy it is, then! King Jawbreaker for short, since it gets kinda long otherwise. Plus, it makes you sound like you're gonna actually break someone's jaw, right?

[A win win for him and his brawny himbo energy tbh. His mentioning that her cat demon costumes fits her gets another grin.]

Yeah... I guess it is. Makes me miss where I came from a little, though. But that's fine! What about you, does yours have meaning to you or is it just something silly this place chose for you?

Love that! King Jawbreaker.

[A name like that could actually do his rep a whole lot of good! If he could have gotten it to spread back home, it might have even been enough to scare away a few debt collectors. Maybe.

He reaches up to lightly ruffle his own hair, narrowly missing one of his wolf ears in the process. Still has to get used to them, some.]

Well, I guess I'm probably supposed to be a werewolf, going by the theme, but the house I belonged to back at school is called the Ashen Wolves, so the white ears and tail make sense. I miss those guys— I'm the only Wolf who made it here.

Well, you can be the wolf here, and uphold their name now! Show everyone not to mess with the Ashen Wolves, even if you're the only one here, right? The name even sounds cool, so King Jawbreaker of the Ashen Wolves, it's perfect.

[He's very much like Snow, she knows that'll probably make him happy.

That thought becomes idle when they announce another costume contest, and specifically point out both she and Baltie here to come up and join in. Serah gives him a sidelong glance.]

Guess we're not escaping the contests this time, are we?

Man, you would be great at word-of-mouth advertising. You think you can get all of that to catch on, maybe? Spread the title around, see if people start using it?

[This is important. Much more than it should be, really. He's definitely grinning, though— it's not quite so much about stroking his ego, but it is nice to have someone so easygoing to talk to. Serah absolutely has the makings of a good buddy. Their initial candy misadventure had definitely gotten them off on the right foot.

He looks up as someone calls out to them, singling them out for the upcoming contest, then gives an easy shrug.]

Guess not. It could be fun, though. I don't think I'll be winning any contests with this, it's too simple, but that doesn't mean we can't have a good time!

I can try, if you'd like. See how many others catch on and call you that too.

[Something to talk about while they wait around for a costume contest, but it seems like this one has a twist: mortal enemies to fiends. ...friends? Well, they're in costume, so maybe both. Both is good. Serah ponders on it though, because well... both of them are already perfect in their roles, aren't they? Cats and dogs are supposed to fight and be enemies or whatever.]

I think we can even pair up for this contest. Cats and dogs fight, why not monster cats and werewolves? I don't think I can take your soul or anything [she hopes] so... if we have to play fight, don't go too hard on me?

[At least they're dressed for the theme!]

Sure— I mean, I know you can hold your own, but if it's just for a costume contest, no need to go all out, right?

[He's not going to go full brawler on her. It's not the time or place, and even though he knows she's a good shot from their candy adventure awhile back, that's not the same.]

I'll go easy on you! Don't think they're expecting an all-out brawl, anyway. And they're just costumes, so I don't think we have to worry about scratches?

[Hopefully...]

Yeah, we probably don't! I don't know if I can take a full hit from you if I had to, so hopefully it'll just be silly playfighting— well, cats and dogs just kinda wrestle, anyway, right?

[They could... probably do that? Probably? But his reassurance that he'll go easy on her is duly noted and appreciated. She can't really take someone like him on head on!]

Well, may the best cat win, huh?

[With a grin, she tells judges who she's partnering with, and a little before it's their turn, she looks up to her partner.]

I'll go easy on you too, Jawbreaker. [With a playful arm punch here.]

I guess so— you know, we've got plenty around the monastery, but I've never really see them fight? Just kind of chase each other around a little. Mostly it seems like they mind their own business, but somehow I doubt that'll get us a lot of points here.

[He flashes her a grin before she heads over to bring the judge up-to-date, and proceeds to wait in line with his arms folded in front of them. As they get nearer to the stage, he tilts his head to one side, his grin going lopsided.]

Oof.

[He makes a show of clapping one hand over the spot she'd hit.]

You'd better— I don't know how many of those I can take!

[In truth, probably a lot, but he'll humor her. It's more fun that way!]

[Oh no, he's cute, isn't he? Definitely Big Snow Energy here, definitely makes her miss her big damn hero.

His overreaction to her arm punch makes her laugh though, and she also plays along, shaking her hand a little.]

Yeah, I'll definitely have to go easy on you! Sometimes I don't even know my own strength.

[Of course, she is pretty small, but look, she learned how to punch from the best: Lightning. She could even take out Snow! So of course her teacher was the best, she can take on Balthus here! Probably.

Once they're up, she crouches defensively, also having learned a thing or two from Snow— he was, after all, a fist fighter.]

Ready to lose, Jawbreaker?

You're confident, I like that! Still, I should be asking you the same thing.

[He grins broadly, slamming one oversized fist into his open palm as he takes his place on what serves as a stage. He really isn't planning on going into this at full strength, but hey, the King of Grappling has a reputation to live up to. Even if he does end up losing the match because of dialing things back, he has to make it look good. It's just for a costume contest— his pride can take pulling a few punches.]

Bring it on, kitty!

[He lifts one hand to beckon her closer, falling into a defensive stance. She's smaller, and he doesn't know what she can do just yet— better to let her take the lead.]

[Look she's gotta try to at least look cool here, and that Big Snow Energy gets her to swoon a little bit— but just a bit! Remembering what her big damn hero taught her though, she knows that between the two of them being defensive, she'll have to go in for a strike very carefully, so she circles him, much like a cat would, and then...]

Time to go down, Jawbreaker!

[And just like a cat, she pounces! No claws, of course, but she can playfight like a cat would here!]

Show me what you've got!

[Being on the defensive means that his gaze follows her as she circles him, turning so that he never gives her his back and keeps his fists raised and at the ready. When she moves, it's definitely faster than he might have thought to give her credit for— not quite enough to take him by surprise, but he does laugh as he raises one arm to block the incoming pounce and reaches out with the other hand to tousle her hair and cat ears.]

Nice shot! But you left yourself wide open—

[He ducks down and brings a clenched fist up to break through her attack— with minimal force, of course— and the hopes of sending her just a little off-balance.]

For this!

[No, her perfect hair!! She makes a face at him when he ruffles her hair, but is knocked off-balance by his hit. Ah, she should have been more careful, she knows better! Serah stumbles back, hoping she's fast enough to block anything else Balthus throws at her as she catches her footing. He's got her mostly on the defensive now!]

Woah—

[She can't say it's unfair because he's bigger than she is, but even a play uppercut was enough to get her there, but that... should make this even more fun! Assuming she can get him on the defensive next.]

[He draws back with a grin as she regains her footing, beckoning for her to come at him with the next shot. Come on, he'll make it fair!]

Your reflexes are pretty good! Cat was the right pick for you.

[It's a compliment, he swears.]

C'mon, we gotta give the people a good show!

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Halloween Nightmare: Part I

he's okay with cats, huh

sure is!

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