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]

Frozen in place, Naminé is cautious of shifting, lest she set off some other manner of magical mishap. But the notion is entirely silly, all instinct and no reason, and presently she relaxes out of her position enough to press both hands over her face in belated horror. This makes her realize that she can taste pumpkin, and she lowers her arms a bit as she grimaces, her fingers closing into fists. At Tenn's question, she shakes her head automatically, still gazing in mortification at the travesty her project's become.

"No...! Not at all," is her breathless, unhappy response.

Still, she finally sinks the rest of the way from her tense posture into something that, for her, looks slightly defeated. It might be hard to tell; she sets about brushing the pumpkin from her person with a somber frown, yet her relatively placid response is very much the one of someone's who's used to having poor luck. She doesn't raise a fuss, or try to throw blame, just murmurs an, "I... must have been careless."

'Careless' doesn't quite describe it, though, with how little effort that seemed to take her. Even now there's a faint crackle in the air, a residual lingering of her magic that's fading slowly. Though her words suggest inexperience, it doesn't seem like there's any shortage of raw power in this girl, and Tenn was right to assume she's connected to it naturally. Troubled expression firmly in place, Naminé turns to the cat without any further delay even as she's still trying to swipe gourd off one side of her face.

"I'm sorry you--" Her fingers pause, glowing eyes blinking more widely open. She quiets, looks at the end of his tail, gives a soft, 'um.' "Is... something burning?"

It feels like the more tactful response to the fact that his tail might or might not still be aflame; the smell of toasting pumpkin flesh kind of suggests something's amiss all on its own.

[perfectenn]

Tenn remains quiet while she processes it. Were this a professional endeavor, he would have words for her. But a festival is hardly the time and place, especially while blending in is their goal. He considers laughing to even out the tone and further the act, but hearing her stricken voice, Tenn checks himself – it wouldn’t do any good if she can’t play along.

When she turns to face him – gaze inevitably going to the flame – Tenn follows to look ruefully over his shoulder at his alight tail. "Don’t worry. I'm not on fire." ...Well, he is. But the burnt smell is only of pumpkin and not of fur, and there’s no pain at all. In fact, the sensation is not unpleasant – like having a blow-dyer on his hair.

What is far more unpleasant is the sticky tugging where chunks of pumpkin are caught on his chest ruff and front legs. Ugh, how should he get those out... he hardly wants to try using his teeth and tongue on foreign food. So he sits down and raises one paw, claws out, to catch and pull the pieces out in a surprisingly human gesture. His tail switches to one side, flame still burning though less intently as his adrenaline ebbs.

"Careless, or inexperienced. Precision work is the most difficult." Tenn may be new to magic, but that general rule holds true in many areas. And anyway, that sounds like something a feline familiar would say. Surely many cats here had the front row seat when their young witches blew the roof off their house.

[lethechained]

Brow knitted, the girl's eyes switch between the burning end of Tenn's tail and his face, trying to gauge whether he's feeling any discomfort. The lack of any such sign and his encouragement seem to appease her, although she's not so quick as that to forget her own failings, so some of her crumpled expression stays. Naminé nods her understanding, gaze shifting away almost as if she feels she ought to-- what, give him some privacy while he's 'not' on fire?

"You're far more special than I thought you were at first," she admits, in the tone of an apology. "I should have realized it sooner."

From talking to making fire. But, she notes when she sees him shift positions and begin to remove the pumpkin from his fur, he's still very much without thumbs. Hoping to be of some belated assistance, Naminé reaches to retrieve one of the towels set to the side of her workstation, originally meant for cleaning one's hands of the mess. (Only, the top sheet is a bit of a mess; she grabs the second one down.)

"That's true," she agrees, a little less preoccupied now that there's room to discuss the problem practically, rather than it all getting tangled up in her initial distress. "I must have needed to start more simply. It's just-- usually when I change the shape of something, it isn't so hard to get it right." But maybe using her costume's powers instead of attempting it with her own more familiar ones was a bad idea. Nose scrunching, "Or so-- violent."

With a careful lean, the girl holds the rough cloth out to Tenn, pauses, then decides to set it on the table next to him instead. It'd be presumptuous, perhaps, to offer to help. Instead she suggests, "To wipe your paws on," by way of explanation, wholly ignoring the state of her own dress until she lets go of the item. Then she sets back to pulling the bits of pumpkin from the lace in her outfit, sighing contemplatively as she does.

Sorry for the long delay, I had many deadlines ;; Wrap up soon?

[perfectenn]

“Don’t worry about it.” He insists once more, though distracted and hiding some puzzlement. She did say the place she came from had unusual animals, yet mistaking him first for a normal cat and then for simply a talking one despite the setting they were in? He’d almost guess she was sheltered growing up… no, that’s not right either. No one who was sheltered would be making that face.

He doesn’t react when offered the towel, and one might guess correctly this is a regular occurrence for him. (In his business, there was always someone after him to fix his makeup and hair.) And he would not have been affronted had she tried to aid in his grooming, though his pride appreciates the consideration. Moreover, he wishes he were able to offer her something too; he has sympathy for the condition of her dress, especially as a costume change is hardly an option here. But lack of opposable thumbs and claws sharp enough to be registered weapons foil his chivalrous impulses.

In any case, she’s hardly a normal girl. And clearly a witch of some skill trying to get accustomed to new magic, as he’s learning to move in a new body. For that reason, with respect to her professional pride, he won’t coddle her. He also doesn’t like seeing someone troubled, and so returns to regarding the misshapen pumpkin with an artist’s eye. There’s a time and place for art to be perfect, when it is presented to the masses for wide consumption. But there is also such a thing as subjective charm, an embracing of chaos that has followed art through many eras. This place, especially, is one such time.

“You can still continue. It’s grotesque, but for that reason, I’m sure those here will appreciate it.” Tenn observes, mild manner suggesting he’s fine either way. He wouldn’t fault her for starting over, but the current product has potential.

Totally understandable! I know those ;; And yep, sounds about right!

[lethechained]

There's a lot about Naminé that remains unclear as she carefully extricates the fruit from her clothing. Her conscientiousness, at least, isn't hard to spot, nor the delicate, almost cautious way she moves. She doesn't assert herself like one might expect a supernatural being of any standing to, and yet she's most definitely not any normal kind of girl, either. The two aspects of her nature might be at opposite ends of some given spectrum, and yet here they are folded together into one quiet, enigmatic young lady.

Hand pausing to hover a moment, she does consider attempting to use magic to clean her clothing, but for fear of bringing about an even worse result than before, she gives her head a narrow shake to remove the thought from it entirely. She doesn't quite have time to return to the messy business of cleaning up before Tenn's comment catches her attention and she turns, regarding him curiously.

"You think so?" It's a hopeful thought, and one she'd like to believe in, if she's honest. Angling her head to a tilt to study the damaged artwork, she considers it briefly, then searchingly lifts her eyes to seek out passersby. There are plenty of more macabre aesthetics mixed in among them, she notes, while she's paying attention to them. She'd been hoping to leave such a thing behind in her previous world, but...

"Now that you mention it, you might be right. It'd fit right in with some of the people here...!" For better or for worse. Huffing out a quiet breath of what could be relief or could be exasperation, she pulls together a wan but honestly meant smile, which she aims down at Tenn. "... Thank you," she says after a beat of trying to figure out how best to express her sentiment, "For the advice. And-- for being patient with me."

Because after all, she's a sharp girl; she's got no illusions whatsoever about having been easy to look after.

I made all my Dec deadlines I can breathe \o/ TY for your patience!

[perfectenn]

Tenn does not put as much fastidious effort into grooming as he might normally; he’s lived with clumsy people before and learned to be realistic in his expectations. (Plus, with all the candy and goo around here, it’s likely he’ll get a little sticky one way or another.) But the decrease of firelight and lingering curl of smoke around the tip of his tail suggests he's not worried. He handles cleaning his paws on the towel with the neatness that all cats have, but especially a bakeneko.

Mistakes happen. It is unfortunate there was no rehearsal to make them during, but all the more reason to quickly move on. The more they make things seem natural, the more comfortable and unaware their audience. Though she doesn’t seem as conscious of their mission as himself, her attitude leaves him with assurance.

“This is a party. I’m sure it’s not the first or the last mess of the night.” A slow blink takes the place of a smile. In some ways it’s like a school crafting project. More at stake, but there is one similar goal. “If you have fun working on your design and learn from it, it's fine.”

He could keep wandering the tables, because there are lots more dreamers working hard at their projects. But he sits up straight and curls his now-extinguished tail around his paws to watch her work a little longer. (And she can reach all her carving tools now!)

Gasp!! Such wonderful freedom! Congratulations!! c: And it's no trouble!

[lethechained]

Not familiar with his habits, Naminé is perhaps inclined to think Tenn plenty fastidious as it is. Or at least enough so not to walk around a complete mess, which she endeavors to ensure for herself as well but might have worse luck about, considering how much of that explosion she took to the front.

There's some consolation in the fact that these antics have drawn little to no attention. The people here seem to have a penchant for chaos in the first place, so on some level they've only fit in more due to the magical mishap. Not that that was Naminé's intent, exactly; really, the poor thing's just trying to get by in all this excitement, when the whole world around her is so exhaustingly, excitably alive with the festivities.

"That's right," Naminé agrees with a note of surprise at Tenn's comment. "I'd almost forgotten for a moment." There's nothing sarcastic about it; she really was just consumed with the minutiae of her work. But maybe that's the problem - thinking of it as work. The girl gives a soft, sudden laugh at her own expense, then admits ruefully, "I guess that means I forgot to have fun, too. I really have been doing it all wrong today, haven't I?"

Now that she's aware of it, though, she's in much better humor as she returns to her project, casting a sidelong glance Tenn's way every now and again with a kindly expression to keep his company in mind. She's not much of a talker, this girl, but now that her art's developed a life of its own, she seems to work much more comfortably as she embraces a simultaneously sillier and more macabre look for her originally very traditional carving.

This really is more fun, isn't it? It's almost like she wasn't even trying to express herself before, and was just going through the motions-- but this new version might actually end up pretty creative.