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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[Perhaps wisely, Hans keeps any further comments about Reaper's appearance to himself. He's seen what he's capable of and he's not eager to be on the other end of those guns. Hans is under no illusion that he would fare well against this man and he has no problem admitting something like that. Knowing one's strengths and weaknesses is important, he thinks.]

Ah, well, it's quite a notable aesthetic. A certain way for people to never forget you. [Hans definitely isn't going to forget this encounter.]

Yes, back home, I did. Of course, no such servants are here in this world with me, so I've been faring on my own. It's been an adjustment, but I'm glad I took my sword lessons seriously as a child.

Such cautionary observations... one could almost call it flattery. You are a politician.

[Reaper had to laugh at that, and he already could tell he was going to tolerate this man well. He needed someone with a potential silver tongue around, and while he often had no tolerance for flattery for himself, he definitely understood the potential value when it came for others.

He was pushed forward, leaving corpses in their wake. This Hans wasn't bad with a sword, and that too was useful. They could potentially use each other well in future. Time would tell.]

So you're adaptable. I dislike helpless people. [So compliments?] Believe me, every where you go you'll need to fend for yourself. You also seem wise enough to not be too arrogant. I appreciate that.

[Heh, it's not every day he gets called out like that. Hans can't even find it in himself to be mad about it. There's nothing he can really deny, so he just accepts the comment as they get closer and closer to ending this whole charade.]

I've lost before because of my arrogance, I do not wish to repeat such a mistake.

[Hey, he's fully honest about that one, at least. He is just going to leave out the details of leaving a princess to die and trying to kill her older sister. Those details are completely unnecessary.]

I'm fortunate enough to get a second chance afterward.

Edited 2021-11-05 22:12 (UTC)

And learning from past mistakes? Will wonders never cease?

[He had worked with enough politicians and even the occasional royalty to know that they still had their own agendas. What those were and how it affected how they operated was the most important aspect of dealing with them.]

Second and third chances are rare unless you're sucked into a dream world. I'm curious how far your cunning, assuming you have some, will take you.

[And how silver that tongue actually was. For now, they were moving as a good unit, and while he might be doing the brunt of the damage, he also had a relatively safe space where Hans was covering his back. That left him to imploring his attentions elsewhere so they could be more successful as they closed the distance to the final stretch of their adventure.]

I won't get anywhere with cunning alone.

[Does he mean that? Maybe, but Hans pushes onto the next topic, mostly to focus on his mysterious companion over here.]

How about yourself? I don't believe we've discussed you at all. If anyone came across us right now, I'm certain that people would be far more curious about you.

[Because these are totally normal conversations to have while fighting a horde of goblins. But the battle isn't too difficult, especially with how much ground Reaper is covering on his own. A little side conversation isn't hurting anyone right now.]

You're wrong. Cunning in the fundamental characteristic to getting what you want, but it needs to be built around others.

[Reaper kicked a goblin that had slipped under his defenses, then he put a boot on it and fired into the creature point blank. He turned his head to regard Hans for a short moment, unwilling to take too much of his attention away from active combat.]

You know what they say: curiosity killed the cat. [He chuckled darkly.] If you have a burning question, ask it. I might even give you an answer, your majesty.

[He was pulling Hans' leg a bit. Some questions he would actually answer honestly. Others would simply be made clear that they were not topics for a first meeting.]

I guess if you're really clever! But wouldn't you say that hard work and integrity are very important traits too?

[Truly the pillars of society, or so they say.]

Do I get to ask one question then?

[How fun-- Hans barely even pauses here, asking his next question almost immediately. He's not entirely sure if the man will even answer, but he's not going to keep quiet.] Is there anything underneath that mask of yours?

Integrity? [A bark of harsh laughter.] Integrity can be bought with the right price. And hard work? Once one reaches a certain level in society, they often stop working so hard. Once you reach a goal, you fall back on your laurels. If you're cunning enough, you can make up for both of those slides.

[He didn't mind this guy, which was a miracle. Deerington had made him soft, but this one pushed the right kind of arguments.]

You did just ask one question. [Phrasing, young man.] But I'll allow you another.

[Reaper actually paused at the question; it wasn't as common as one might think. Everyone assumed whatever he hid beneath was terrifying and horrible, if anything at all.]

Oh yes, there's something hidden behind it. Are you curious enough to go for a grab of it? [He definitely had a shotgun in hand ready to teach a new lesson of curiosity. They had only just met after all!]

There's many that wouldn't disagree with you. ...But others that would argue to their last breath how integrity can't bought. Or how people will always work hard.

[Does he believe in what the Reaper says? Maybe, probably, for the most part. Wealth trumps most of everything and hard work can mean nothing in the end, collapsed and overtaken by what's stacked against them. He knows that his own personal struggle as the 13th prince isn't very relatable, but he's certainly felt helpless in the past.

One way or another, the goblins seem to be slowing down, their numbers finally dwindling. It's just in time for Hans to pause just a second, before letting a small smile cross his face.]

I do have manners, I wouldn't forcibly take off something that's keeping you hidden from others.

And those steadfast optimists have a place in this world, but they also seem to live in a fantasy world. Everyone wants something, and that something can be used against them to buy their integrity.

[He knew it didn't even have to be wealth. It could be a contract that, on the surface, looks like a good thing. The more difficult part was finding out what really made those people tick to begin to twist their wants to make them useful.

Or kill them, he supposed. Removing opposition permanently was always an option.

He was still shooting goblins as they advanced further, and he was certain he could see the gate that they were coming through. Apparently they had slaughtered many of their number, so it was a matter of getting rid of the opportunity to come to this location.]

That's good. Some fools have tried and paid a price. You aren't the worst company. [Compliments!]

[And people call him pessimistic.]

So, you believe everyone caves in eventually. There's certainly some truth in your words, but not everyone reaches that stage in their life. They're fortunate in that regard.

[Maybe that's why they can hold that optimism or they're just very stubborn. Hans wonders if Anna would ever surrender her integrity, maybe if Elsa was in danger.]

Oh, I'm certainly glad to be enjoyable company to the man wielding advanced firearms. Likewise, I'd rather have these blunt and cynical conversations with you over needless pandering.

If given the right pressures, yes. [He glanced back at Hans as they moved the final distance to the goblin-welcoming portal.] You either know someone who is so fortunate or you're striving to be that fortunate.

[As far as he was concerned, everyone had a price that they were willing to pay. Put enough pressure on it, and people caved. Then they would hate themselves for it for a time.]

Pandering and ass-patting have never been skills I've invested time in, but I'm not stranger to playing the informational cat and mouse game either. What are your goals in this place anyway?

[Goals, huh? He's always been goal-oriented, especially with trying to find a kingdom of his own. But in this place, such a thing isn't really plausible, so he's been finding new ways to occupy himself. If he's lucky, he can do something that will influence his actual self outside of this dream.

But that's too much to say.]

Nothing so complex, just surviving in this world and practicing my dreamotion abilities. I'm certain that those two goals are connected to each other, so I'm lucky in that regard.

[And Hans smiles here.]

Oh, and making friends of course. I recommend trying that some day.

[He's definitely teasing now, but he can't stop himself, even if the guy he's somewhat ribbing is some sort of invincible weapons master.]

[It did seem that way based on what he had experienced of this place. It was difficult to know how far the abilities could be developed, but it would require time and investment to know.]

Friends? [He pointedly scoffed the word out.] Does that mean you want to be my friend, your Highness? [It was his turn to rib right back, tossing an empty shotgun to his left carelessly.]

You know if your gift for the gab, you could potentially gather power through organizing this rag-tag group.

Sure! I'm not opposed to being your friend. I can't say I've ever had a friend that wears a mask and everything, but I'd like to consider myself open-minded. A prince isn't judgmental.

[He's definitely having fun now, even if Reaper decides to shut him down completely on that offer. He would be more surprised if he doesn't tell him off, actually.]

You mean everyone working together towards a common goal? I think many of us already have that sort of mindset, stopping the Storyteller from what I've heard.

That's not anything like the royalty I've met. They are highly judgmental and far too pampered.

[He wasn't saying 'no' to friendship, but it would take work to warm him up beyond the title 'ally'. He had learned that one was more important and dangerous to one's well being more than the other.

Besides, he trusted this guy to have his back in a pinch of a fight. Beyond that, it was up in the air.]

So what will separate you from the rest of the sheep?

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Halloween Nightmare: Part I

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