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

[lethechained]

[ A lecture, huh? That's a new development that piques her interest; whatever the source - and she has an idea - Naminé's glad for it, and finds herself smiling unbidden in a quirk of her mouth that's a little higher on one side than the other.

Of course, then she has to skip out of the way of some flying bits of pumpkin, but she manages that with a quick sidestep that she'd be proud of if she weren't both distracted and not at all the type for patting herself on the back. ]

At least you've got your priorities straight.

[ Half a joke - but 'not getting into trouble' is reason enough if it keeps him, well, out of trouble. Stepping into place at a polite distance from his side, Naminé tilts her head back to look the same direction he is, frowning at the approaching enemies. From there her eyes fall toward the frightened civilians, linger a moment in concern, then shift over toward Void Gear for her, ]

'Guess you don't, if you've got one of those instead.

[ That amount of power takes the place of a plan in this situation, at least. Naminé, however, is not quite as lucky. And since he's better equipped, ]

I'll watch your back.

[ That's about as much assistance as she can offer, after all. ]

[darkcharge]

[ It wouldn't take much to figure out who he is talking about. Though if Mira were here, she'd probably also be someone that would scold him for going after whomever he felt like. It's not like the Dark Knight really cared too much how destructive Vanitas could be as long as the target deserved it. That had been something that Vanitas could, at the very least, appreciate. Too bad she isn't around. ]

Your sarcasm has been noted.

[ The girl doesn't really concern him though. At the moment he doesn't know her well enough for her opinion to matter. She's from the same place as he though so it's not like they aren't tied together in some way. How deeply that runs he doesn't know, but just leaving her would also likely merit another lecture or, at the very least, a pout and that could get annoying real fast. ]

Void Gear just augments and channels. You're perfectly capable of using magic or whatever the force we tap into here is called. Maybe I should stand back and let you give it a go.

[ Though he'll fire off a Dark Firaga first. Good thing it zeroes in on a target, right? ]

[lethechained]

[ Regarding him sidelong at his comment, Naminé pauses, briefly weighing his tone. In truth, she's aware that she probably ought to be cautious around him; he seems different now, but that still begs the question of how much has changed, and how permanently.

And yet-- ]

I could have meant it, you know. [ It's such a quiet little comment, a soft sort of teasing that she doesn't commit to enough to say louder than a murmur. ] After all, we're nearly strangers.

[ So how could he be certain of her opinion, sarcastic or otherwise? Turning back to face the other direction, she keeps her eyes heavenwards in order to uphold her earlier oath to guard their flank - only, Vanitas rather quickly diverts her attention back to him with that last comment. Flustering slightly, ]

That-- might not be such a good idea. [ It would, in fact, probably also be terribly embarrassing, but that's not why she objects! ] If that force is supposed to be controlled by emotions like they said, I'm not really...

[ Especially well-equipped for that, right? Faltering, she shakes her head slightly, then amends lamely, ]

I'm probably not the right person for the job. And-- my aim is pretty bad, anyway.

hnnnn SORRY

[darkcharge]

Maybe... But all of that is doubtful to me.

[ Because he doesn't know her. Doesn't know her sincerity. Doesn't know her humor or whether or not her words are something that can be trusted. However, Vanitas is simply defaulting in this area. Because people can't be anything but. Not in his opinion.

Anyway... Yeah. He knows about things being influenced by emotions. Vanitas, more than anyone, knows what that is like. Knows what it means to have abilities that rely on his own emotions. Yes, his spawn from negativity but - ]

And you think I am?

[ If she knows who he is. Then she knows about the Unversed as well. So someone who is fueled by negativity and darkness... Tell him that he's good to go about protecting people. ]

You're not going to get to the point where you can if you don't try.

/SLAPS APOLOGY DOWN!! No sorries needed here >:O

[lethechained]

[ Despite how she angles her blue eyes his way, Naminé doesn't protest against his mistrust. It's fully warranted, after all; as she said, they're strangers. If not for her perhaps ill-gotten knowledge, the Nobody wouldn't be sure what to expect from him, either. (Not that she is now, but she's still aware of her own head start.)

So she gives a quiet little noise of confirmation, a shadow of a nod, and doesn't kick up a fuss. Naminé won't fault Vanitas for whatever he comes to think of her, positive or negative.

But it appears that other comment of his troubles her more than the first one did. Brow pinching at him, the girl twists in place to look his way more directly, expression somewhere between confused and something almost like a very mild offense. ]

Of course, [ she responds, in a tone as though that were obvious but she's entirely too nice to say so outright. ] Why wouldn't I? You've proven that much already.

[ He's clearly capable of using the magic in question, so what's the problem? It's easy enough to point out what she's seen here in the dreamworlds and leave her other awareness out of the equation, but she's fully conscious of the fact that he has certain... prior experience in this area. Heroism is a different matter entirely; even if it weren't, he's been doing plenty of that too lately, whether he wanted to or not.

Still, as prepared as she might be for a lot of things about Vanitas, it's nevertheless a very strange feeling when she opens her mouth to respond to those last words and finds that she can't, at first. He's right, after all. Lips pressing back into a line, Naminé tucks her chin just a little, subtly shamefaced. Her shoulders rise a little with her late, guilty, ]

But... both of us could get hurt.

[ It's a weak protest, considering how much she agrees with him. She's been wanting to take matters into her own hands for a while now - has been doing her best to practice magic on her own. When it comes down to it, though, she finds she's always running instead, too cautious to take the plunge unless she has to, especially when others are around as potential collateral damage in her attempt at a learning experience. ]

[darkcharge]

[ Yeah that's the thing - whether he wanted to or not. That's a thing that had been happening prior and it's something that is going to continue. Vanitas isn't going to just throw his Keyblade down and march away. Though it's not like he's about helping everyone either... It's stupidly complicated for him and he hates that fact.

Now, it really is a weak protest. One that makes Vanitas roll his eyes and scoff. ]

Do you really think you can hurt me?

[ Okay well then... Vanitas does put away his Keyblade. He does march a few steps away and sits down with his arms crossed. ]

So have at them. Prove to me that you can actually lift a finger and do something and I'll finish the job.

[lethechained]

[ Features pinching into a perplexed frown, ]

I didn't mean that I would--...

[ Except for the part where she could, in point of fact, hurt him, and it puts her hackles up just thinking about the idea; but what she'd been trying to say was that the pumpkins very well might whether she did or not, given her supposed lack of ability to defend against them.

Whatever thoughts she had on that matter fall from the surface of her mind as Vanitas' Keyblade disappears, making her shoulders jump as surely as if he'd abruptly summoned it instead. One of her hands raises in protest as she watches him walk away, only for it to fall as he sits down. Clearly not on-board with this idea, Naminé struggles to think of something that might change his mind, but comes up empty. (He's an awfully stubborn person, isn't he? She knows that much already.)

Meanwhile, the screeching of a rapidly approaching jack-o-lantern draws her attention. Looking up, Naminé can feel her heart pounding as the thing draws near. But to her credit, she doesn't freeze.

Which is actually a bad thing, in this case, because that applies to the spell she tries to cast, too. One hand lifts up, palm open and her intent clear, but-- the Blizzard she'd meant to use fizzles into nothingness before it even musters a frost. Seeing her opportunity used up, Naminé can only duck out of the way as the pumpkin crashes onto the ground in the space she'd been standing a moment before.

Nearly stumbling over the cobbles, the girl instinctively starts to switch her unsteady grip on her own half-carved pumpkin to both arms, then suddenly realizes she has a second chance as the flaming creature makes an awkward attempt to get airborne again after the rough landing. Only, Naminé has the same problem casting the second time, and the third, as her memory of what it's like to use such a spell and the necessity of powering it by Dreamotion energy conflict with each other. The beast's already up and wobbling away, by that point.

Perhaps her effort can't be faulted. Her distraction, though, might prove troublesome, because right about then, a second pumpkin comes screaming down from the heavens. Naminé flinches away from it, body curling inward defensively, and what would have been a direct hit becomes a rough strike against one of her shoulders, the flames quick to catch at her dress--

And then suddenly everything is cold. The ice that wouldn't come at her call before practically explodes from her hand as she loses her grip on her carving, frost immediately covering both the side of her dress and the hapless jack-o-lantern that attacked her. Spikes of frozen water puncture it as it flops to the ground, thoroughly defeated; the girl herself backs away from it quickly, looking distressed.

For someone who claims not to be any good with emotions, hers do seem to be powerful - or maybe it's just her magic itself. Either way, that was more than a basic Blizzard; even the air around her feels frigid now with the biting chill of her fright. ]