songerein | { Moon's Haunted }

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{ Moon's Haunted }

MOON'S HAUNTED

Elimei, the female winged kirin twin from the Tree of Stories, was suddenly taken by a large, gruesome figure wielding a butcher's knife with a bear at its side. They appeared from a black portal and everyone in the room at the time was unable to move due to a sudden increase in gravity and heavy weight of nightmare energy. The figures disappeared into the black portal leaving behind no trace—except Elimei's feathers tinged with nightmare energy. Using Elimei's feather, researchers in the Observatory were able to pinpoint her location within a foreign moon. By this time, the moon mirror created by the fae has collected into its glass the stories of various moons gathered by Madhuri. Powered by this enchanted mirror and with dreamotion energy, they are able to create a dreamscape-like gateway to this foreign moon.

Unfortunately the power was so great it acted like a dreamshift and sent in everyone. Now everyone finds themselves on the surface of this strange moon, but fortunately they have allies in the form of lunar wolves to help guide them. To help combat against the noctasers, which are an evolved form of Erasers that have consumed great amount of nightmare energy, the special potions that were created back from Halloween and are effective against Erasers will be available. They will work in conjunction with dreamotion energy and other items useful against nightmare energy; perhaps a new solution can be made.

For more details on the event and to ask any questions, please refer to the Game Notes. Reminder that this is forward dated to the end of the month.

I. MOON PHASES

At random intervals, the moon will change between full and new phases. When the moon is full, the moonscape becomes ghostly white; when it is new, it becomes pitch back. There are both advantages and disadvantages for each phase, and everyone needs to be mindful as it will change without warning. Although we have some generic prompts for each phase, the phases and effects carry over through all the prompts, they can be used at will.

A. Darkest of Nights: New Moon. Whenever the moon phase changes to the new moon, it becomes so dark it's almost difficult to see. Light sources will need to be found to help traverse through the moonscape unless one uses dreamotion to help guide them. The new moon phase is also when nightmare energy is at its peak, the ground seemingly seeping with it and noctasers lurking. Some characters might find themselves transforming into some nightmarish creature in response to it. Perhaps into something that reflects their greatest fears or anger; some may even start to relive or have nightmares. Those who are easily influenced by nightmare energy should take caution, but must also remember that nightmare energy can also be harnessed here. For those who want to try and control it, the new moon phase is the best time.

B. Light of the Full Moon. Whenever the moon phase changes to the full moon, it is almost blindingly bright in some places. During this time, dreamotion is at its peak and it'll be easier to fight off the noctasers should they be encountered; of course during this time the noctasers will go into hiding. The black goopy puddles scattered around will be most suspicious, and this is the perfect time to clear them up with dreamotion. Just be careful not to get trapped in them or it'll be like quicksand. Anyone who was transformed during the new moon phase will slowly begin to transform back but will still need assistance; otherwise they'll just remain and continue transformation when it changes back to the new moon phase.

II. LUNAR WOLVES

For those who wish to help the lunar wolves that inhabit this moonscape, they live in a brightly lit temple that is impossible to miss. With a unique "wolf blessing," characters can transform into a wolf to help blend in with the environment as well as gain temporary powers: ability to conjure moonlight to use against noctasers; powerful howl attacks capable of knocking back small objects and creatures; ability to see clearly in the darkness during new moon shifts; increases speed and other heightened senses; ability to see the leftover "moon dust trail" from the moon fragments to track them down. Appearance of the wolf form can be whatever the player or character wishes and while partial transformations are allowed, whole transformations will be stronger. The blessing will last for up to an hour, and characters can willingly change back at any time. However, they'll need another blessing to turn back into a wolf unless they can do so on their own through their own dreamotion ability. The wolves will also be around to help give aid when they can.

A. Defend the Temple. Noctasers are becoming more aggressive as they attack the temple the lunar wolves are based in, aiming for the collection of corrupted moon fragments the lunar wolves have been guarding in hopes of later purifying. Some may even notice the moon fragments depict certain images or have unique characters that may look like the moon from their own world. Maybe that fragment is from their home world. Characters need to use everything they have to help protect these fragments and fight alongside the wolves.

» BONUS: DEFENSE BARRIERS. Shoring up defenses and creating dreamotion barriers to help keep the noctasers at bay will also help. The wolves will inform of special flower that needs wishful based dreamotion energy to make it grow large enough as a shield that can help repel the noctasers.

B. Retrieve Moon Fragments. Some of the noctasers still manage to break in and steal several moon fragments, scattering them all over the forests surrounding the small temple the wolves dwell in. While some have been dropped and can be found a little more easily, others are still in the clutches of the noctasers that must be destroyed, especially if a noctaser consumes it. While safe to handle, the moon fragments must be collected into small glowing jars to ensure their protection.

C. Save the Wolf Cubs. In the chaos, a few wolf cubs got separated from their families and ran into the forest, with some having the bright idea to try and find the moon fragments on their own. This is a disaster waiting to happen, so they need to be brought back quickly! Wolf transformation will be mandatory as the cubs will be wary of anyone else who approaches. They are also clever cubs and will hide in deep thickets and tree hollows. Luring them out with mooncakes will help win them over.

III. ITEM COLLECTION: ELIMEI

Certain items are needed to help defeat the Mutton Man and its Bear steed, as well as to find and heal Elimei. Thankfully they won't be going in blind and Baba Yaga will make an appearance to inform them of what they'll need. Although primarily to be collected and given to those who will go out to find Elimei, all items can also be collected for personal use to be against noctasers and other effects. There's plenty to go around! All items will be found in the swamp area.

A. Follow the Moonflies. In the outskirts of the swamps, there are special fireflies called "moonflies" where they produce pure moonlight from their bulbs. They are attracted to darkness as they will absorb it to produce their light. Gathering these moonflies in special jars will allow those seeking Elimei to help track her down as the moonflies will fly towards the darkest area of the swamp where she is being held. They will also be useful in blinding the enemies as they will fly up to them, attracted by the darkness the nightmare energy brings. They are also great to use as lanterns during the new moon phase.

B. Lunar Honey. The petals of this flower can be crushed up to create a delicious sweet honey that can help soothe any tormented soul. While not a cure all for nightmare energy, they work similar to the Glowing Dawn flowers back in Songerein and will be valuable for those affected by nightmare energy and monster transformations. Although ineffective against the Mutton Man, the Bear may find the sweetness irresistible.

» BONUS: KEEPSAKES. Collect the flowers to eventually bring back to Songerein so they can be used for additional treatment.

C. Moon Crystals. Special crystals which illuminate in the darkness and turn black during the full moon phases. They will absorb nightmare energy and convert them to potent dreamotion energy to a poisonous degree. Thus those afflicted with nightmary energy will be good sources for these crystals but must be handled with care. Anyone who is punctured or cut by a crystal risks becoming crystalized and will need to be taken back to the wolves to be cured. The crystals will serve as the main "weapon" against the Mutton Man and the Bear, and can be deadly against noctasers as well.

D. Swamp Threats. Beware: the swamps are filled with not only noctasers but also hostile moon creatures, mostly of the reptilian side, such as snakes and alligators. At least the latter can be soothed with dreamotion unless they have started to corrupt from nightmare energy. Be careful not to follow the red wisps as they will lead unsuspecting rescuers deep into the swap to black pools where kelpies in them, ready to pose as Elimei and drag them under.

IV. ITEM COLLECTION: KAGUYA

To help get Songerein's moon fragment back, certain items will be needed to help evolve the moon mirror and purify the corrupted Rabbit Kaguya. All items can be used for other purposes and will be found around the bamboo forest.

A. "Holy Hand Grenade." This has a few steps as the "grenade" needs to be made. First, a golden bamboo stalk must be found and cut down. The crystals that pour out of it must be quickly collected in a crystal globe provided by the wolves. Dreamotion must then be channeled into it to melt the crystals and then the globe must be capped off. To use, one must count to three and then throw it at the target. This only has a purification effect, but it's very potent. It should only be used on anyone who is fully corrupted and is either close to or has become a noctaere. Even then care must be given as it will knock them out completely. Using it on someone with only a small amount will cause them to have too much dreamotion energy and make it more of a poison, requiring the excess dreamotion energy to be drawn out or counter balanced with nightmare energy. Handle with caution.

B. Bamboo Slicer. To get through the corrupted bamboo thicket to chase after Kaguya, special tools will need to be made. Cutting silver bamboo stalks well produce various metals to pour out, and with these metals blades can be forged via dreamotion. The blades can be of any shape and form, they just must carry enough fortitude, strength, and tenacity to cut through the stalks. Blades lacking that kind of dreamotion will remain dull and brittle.

C. Mooncakes. One of the easier items to collect, the mooncakes can be found growing off the leaves of the bamboo stalks. The trick is being able to climb high enough to get them; alternative cut or shake down the stalk to reach them. Just beware the lunar bees—they find the mooncakes delicious and will angrily attack anyone who gets in their way.

D. Don't Get Lost. Everyone will be warned to avoid entering the bamboo forest until everything has been gathered and designated groups are set, but should any accidentally further than necessary or get lured in somehow, they will need to find stone lanterns and light them up with dreamotion to help guide their way out. It will be relatively safe during the full moon phase, but during new moon there is higher risk of those trapped to hallucinate their worst nightmares and be lost in them until someone helps them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

⊗ lost in nightmare

[It was a mistake, and one that he berates himself for. He thought he saw someone go into the bamboo forest and went to bring them back out before they got lost, but the moon phase had shifted from full to new and he had become disoriented. Fortunately he has a small jar of moonflies with him to help light the way, but he still has to proceed with caution. What did they say? Find the lanterns...

OPTION 1: VISIONS OF THE PAST.

Thinking he hears a voice, Eustace frowns and turns—only to stiffen when he sees the ghosts of his family.

"...Impossible... No, this can't be real."

In his head he's know this must be some kind of hallucination, the thing they told him about, but they seem so real. He takes an involuntary step forward, but they crumble away in smoke and flame, everything around him suddenly set ablaze.

"...—!"

He knows he needs to get away, to end this, but he's somehow stuck in place, the sounds and memories of what he witnessed that day bombarding him.

Anyone who finds him like this will need to douse the flames to get to him as the flames are now a product of his own dreamotion and nightmare energy.

OPTION 2: FAILED TO SAVE THE WORLD.

Thick fog has surrounded him, and instead of the bamboo forest he finds himself back on the grounds where his group faced Diaspora. Its armor stripped away, all that's left is for him to finish it off. However, something is off.

Around him are the bodies of his friends and teammates, broken, mangled, and riddled with slashes and holes. He can't believe it—he refuses to—because this isn't what happened. Even as that voice of reason echoes through his mind, he glares up at the visage of the giant automagod and raises his weapon.

"Flamek Thunder...!"

But as soon as he begins the incantation, he freezes and stares wide-eyed at the rifle. It's silent, not responding to him at all.

Charging: 94%

"...What...no!"

No matter how many times he shouted, at first angrily and then desperate, there was no response from his weapon.

Charging: 98%

"Dammit, Flamek, awaken!"

As energy gathers around Diaspora's mouth aimed directly at him, the flood of doubts and uncertainties from that time flood back to him. How he couldn't figure out how to open up and connect to his weapon, how the pressure of knowing he was the reason they had to find alternative methods to destroy Diaspora, how if he failed the entire Skydom would fall, how everyone he wanted to protect would die—

Charging: 100%

Eustace can be found hunched over on the ground, gasping as his nails dig into the soil, his weapon discarded a few feet away from him. It clicks and crackles with electricity, as if trying to get Eustace's attention, but he can't hear it. All he sees in his mind's eye is the devastation of his failure to open himself up, of failing to awakening Flamek when he was needed most. Nightmare energy oozes out and around him, the Moonflies in his jar buzzing around like mad as they crave what they can't reach.

Should anyone find him, he will have some lunar flowers, the Moonflies, and a few small crystals in the satchel he had been using. It could be on him or it could have fallen to the ground. So far it'll be mostly just nightmare energy gathering around him with no real big changes...yet. Just be careful as he might think those approaching him are enemies or some form of the people he's hallucinating about.]

[ Phantom fares better than most in the dreamscape after his experience last month, his resolve now fortified against the nightmare and armed with the knowledge that he can indeed make its power his own. After hearing from the others that Eustace had gone into the forest alone, he went after the man... and it seems almost ironic to him that this is their situation last month in reverse.

Perhaps he can try to pull the nightmare energy around Eustace away, but he wouldn't risk it just yet. ]

Eustace, Eustace, can you hear my voice? It's Phantom.

[ He has some crystals in his pocket, and he brings out one to hold in front of him. ]

[He's still trapped in the hallucination, and when he sees Phantom—]

—!

[Instead of Phantom, he sees an unknown disfigured body and he immediately reaches for—no, he doesn't have Flamek! He can only draw out his secondary blade instead and makes a mad swipe as he staggers back up, stumbling slightly in his step.]

[ This is so strange. Now Phantom's the one who is able to keep completely lucid in the darkness - perhaps this means his own nature has changed, that he is more at home here than in the colourful lights of Revein - but that's never not been the case, has it? He has always belonged to the darkness.

He doesn't draw his own blade yet, hoping the crystal will have some effect and absorb the nightmare energy, because he will try to pull the nightmare energy away from Eustace at the same time. ]

Edited 2022-06-13 22:18 (UTC)

[Eustace is still in a frenzied mindset, but that crystal is definitely doing its job. As it absorbs more of the nightmare energy, there's a moment where Eustace can see Phantom's face clearly, and it makes him falter.]

What...

[But then he tightens his grip, his eyes glancing at the fallen Flamek. No, this could be a trick, an illusion—or is this the illusion?]

[ Phantom trusts Eustace enough to approach in person, and it seems like the fog is slowly beginning to lift. He calls out to the other man, remembering how they had woken him back in Dreammmare Castle. ]

It is I, Phantom. You ventured into the forest alone, and I worried for your safety, thus I came to search for you.

[ He lets the crystal do its thing while trying to move the nightmare energy around Eustace, at least physically, so that it wouldn't smother him as much. ]

...Phantom...?

[There's a ringing in his head, one that's enough to make him stagger as he presses his free hand against his forehead as if fighting off a headache.

There's no Phantom in these memories. The only people he knows are lying dead and mutilated at his feet, about to be dissolved and reassembled right in front of his eyes—

But no, that's not right either. That didn't happen...?]

Yes, that is my name. Do you remember where we are? We are within the moon's dream.

[ Phantom can't help but wonder what Eustace is seeing. What compelled such a stoic man to have such deep nightmares? He cannot approach too swiftly or come too close, lest he startles the man into instinctive retaliation. ]

Moon's...dream?

[He slowly repeats the words...and while it gives him a moment of clarity, hearing the word "moon" also seems to trigger him again, his body tensing as he can only see Central Axis's forces bearing down on the skydowm, annihilating everything.]

No...it can't—!

[Immediately he dashes the last few steps to snatch up Flamek and point it wildly at Phantom.]

[ No use... the grip of nightmare is too strong. Phantom knows he can evade as soon as Eustace fires, so he doesn't move just yet. ]

I am not your enemy, Eustace! Open thine eyes to Songerein, the world which calls for our aid!

[ For all of his actor's eloquence, he's not one with words when it comes to speaking the truth - but he will try nevertheless. His mind is clear here, perhaps even clearer than it has been under the light of the sun, and so he will now draw on the same power that he used within his castle of nightmare. He is the master of darkness, and never its puppet. He will draw the darkness away from his friend. ]

The hell are you talking about?

[His finger is on the trigger, yet something stops him from actually pulling it. Even Flamek is resisting, the electricity sparking along its barrel actually snapping at him in an attempt to make him snap out of it. Yet this only plays into the nightmare fear, of Flamek no longer listening and failing to resonate to unlock its evolved form which led to the destruction of everything.

It's enough to make his hand tremble in anger and despair, black ice now creeping out from beneath his feet and spreading over the floor.]

[ Eustace still hasn't fired. There's time, no hope is lost. He's not sure what is happening to Eustace's weapon, but perhaps it too is buying them some time. Phantom remembers how Trahearne talked to him to break it out of his spell. ]

Remember this world and those that we have met here. Trahearne, Nier, Aether, Zelda, Sana, Tifa; you spoke to many people and changed their lives for the better. Do not give up hope, the night will end and the sun will rise again without fail.

[ Speaking about anything optimistic is... difficult for him, but he's willing to try his utmost. ]

[Names... He recognizes most of them, but one in particular stands out to him.]

...Tifa?

[In this nightmare, he had forgotten everything about Songerein and the people he met, his focus returning only to those of his world. But now with Phantom reminding him, he feels a strange prick and ache in his chest at the mention of Tifa, the image of the woman slowly blurring into his mind.]

CW: DEATH/BLOOD/TRAUMA/ETC

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