songerein | { Moon's Haunted }

Entry tags:

{ 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

[ Oriphi, who has been similarly trying to collect materials in the bamboo forest only to be caught in the midst of the new moon blanketing everything in darkness sees fire starting in the distance, and her first instinct is to approach it. That's not a good sign at all, but she knows that she can help.

When she arrives and finds that it's Eustace standing in the midst of the flames, she feels her heart drop to her stomach. The way he seems to be frozen in place tells her everything she needs to know; after all, she's never known him to be the kind of person to stand idly by like this. ~~Unless it was to make fun of her.~~ There must be something wrong, and he needs help. So she calls out to him, ]

Eustace—! What's wrong?! We have to get you out of there...!

[He hears Oriphi's voice and looks wildly around, but his eyes doesn't see her. It only sees the flames, the bodies, the ghosts—

No, wait, they're not ghosts. No this has to be an illusion, a fake... Otherwordly beings, of course.

The flames around them worsen as he pulls out his weapon, aiming right at Oriphi whose figure doesn't really have a full shape yet.]

You won't be able to fool me this time.

[ The flames flare up around them, and Ori stops in her tracks. She’s no stranger to the way that magic, especially in this realm, can play tricks on the mind, can show them haunting images and visions. And having been warned of what this forest can do, she knows right away that Eustace must have fallen prey to such visions.

With a deep breath, she steels herself, and she holds her hands out towards him as if to say, it’s alright, and showing him that she means him no harm. ]

Can you hear my voice, Eustace? It’s me, Oriphi.

[ She watches him raise his weapon at her, and something in her heart twists at the sight. Being on the business end of a weapon belonging to someone she holds dear is not something she’ll ever get used to. ]

I promise, it’s really me.

...Oriphi?

[The name..... It feels both familiar yet strange as he repeats it.

Oriphi, Oriphi, Oriphi... Definitely not someone from his village yet it somehow brings a similar familial feeling, and the tip of his barrel lowers just a fraction.

Speaking of his weapon, Oriphi will be in luck as Flamek has sensed something is wrong and won't properly work. Oriphi just has to keep going!]

[ Then keep going, she will!

The fact that the fire around them doesn’t worsen is a good sign, she thinks, but that doesn’t mean it’s getting better just yet. Still, she takes a small step forward, into the flames.

She’d done something similar to get her sister back, taking the younger tiefling by the hands even when those hands were enshrouded by a searing, arcane flame. Stepping into the flames for Eustace is the same, an unspoken gesture of trust and loyalty. ]

That’s right. Most everyone else calls me “Ori” for short, but for some reason you always call me “Oriphi.” Do you remember?

[ Sassy as her words might seem, her voice carries a certain fondness with it. ]

[For a brief moment, the illusion he sees flickers to reveal Oriphi's true face before it changes back, a wisp of nightmare energy floating over his eyes before he closes them, shaking his head briefly.]

...No, I've never heard of...?

[Yet somehow, he can't feel too confident, and the flames flicker, lessening briefly.]

[ Even though Ori understands what’s going on, it still twists at her heart, a little, to hear him say that he doesn’t remember her. She wonders if this is what it was like for a certain mutual friend of theirs when she had memories of him that he couldn’t remember (at least, not until recently)…

But still, she hears the trepidation in his voice and it spurs her to keep going, walking further into the flames. A faint, starlike glimmer of light envelops her form as she goes, shielding her from the worst of the searing heat. ]

We’re in a forest that’s making you see things that aren’t there, but I’m here to bring you back, okay?

...See things...

[Warily he looks around him. Honestly, it would make more sense. The grisly scene before him....that all happened ages ago. There are no ghosts, no remains. Just a past that he's moved on from, yet still occasionally haunts him.

Haunts him...through these damn nightmares.

Looking back at Oriphi, it's still blurred, but he can finally see more of her, clarity coming to his mind. There is still a part of him that doubts it all—a what if this is something else. But as he presses a hand to his brows as if fighting off a headache, he mentally shakes it off.]

...Ha... I was careless.

Hey, it’s okay, Eustace…

[ She closes the distance between them as he cradles his head in his hand, and reaches up to rest a reassuring, grounding hand on his shoulder. ]

Just take a deep breath. We’re in a dreamscape, there’s no telling what might hit you, but you know that better than I do.

[ He’s had more experience than she does with these, after all. She knows the nature of what he’s experiencing is more mental anguish than physical pain, but still. Dreamotion flows from her fingertips and to him in something akin to her healing spells, carrying with it the same sentiments of her words: you’re going to be alright, stay calm, I’m here to help you. ]

[Although he flinches at her touch, the warmth from her dreamotion does help, as do her words.]

The dreamscape... The one from the moon?

[Slowly it's coming back together. Right, they were here to try and save that young hatchling and possibly gaining Songerein's moon fragment.]

[ Ori is rarely insistent about anything, but helping her friends and healing them are among the few that she is. So her hand stays on his shoulder despite his reaction, determined to help him through this. ]

That’s right, the one from the moon. There’s a lot of different things going on, but right now we’re a bit lost in a bamboo forest, and we might see some nightmares and things like that, but I’m going to help us get out of here, I promise.

[More things begin to click and he sighs.]

...Right. I thought I saw someone come through and entered to get them before they got lost.

[An aggravated hand runs over his face and through his hair.]

Looks like it was me instead.

[And when he opens his eyes......wait. UH.]

Wait, where'd this fire...!?

[It's died down considerably, but the flames can still be seen in patches here and there.]

Oh, right!

[ They sure have just been standing in a fire, huh… ]

Well, these aren’t so bad. I’m glad I was able to get you back… Maybe the person you saw come in here wasn’t real either, though.

[ Still, she turns and conjures some water to splash over one of the small fire patches. ]

[It's fine.]

It's not impossible, especially since it was close to the new moon shift and nightmare energy higher.

[He rubs his brow before he also works on putting out the fires that he clearly caused.]

What brought you out here?

I was out here to gather materials, too. And I had a feeling people might get stuck and need help, so…

[ It was a risk, surely, to come out here with the intent to help without knowing if she would fall prey to the same forces that made Eustace hallucinate. But maybe it was that same determination to help that allowed her to keep her wits about her. ]

Hm... Guess it was fortunate then.

[He briefly thinks back to what he saw before shaking his head, unconsciously rubbing his shoulder when he feels an odd sting. There's a brief frown as he wonders about it before he checks to see the area now clear.]

I owe you for that. It wasn't the worst, but it lasted longer than it should have.

[Rather, it shouldn't have happened at all, but what's done is done.]

Let's head out.

[ Ori frowns at what he says. ]

How long were you in there, seeing things…?

[ She asks it out loud, although she wouldn’t be surprised if he would decline to answer, ever the Stoic Man that he is. Still, she does turn on her heel as they start making their way out of these bamboo thickets. ]

Until you came?

[He thinks for a moment.]

Perhaps a few minutes. But even a second is too long.

[And troubling.]

What did you see?

[ That's right, she went there. ]

You looked so... shocked.

[....

He just looks at her for a moment before he closes his eyes.]

My home village...and my family.

Oh...

[ She can tell just from his demeanor and the nature of this forest that what he'd seen about his home and his family were not a happy sight to behold.

After another moment of contemplation, she reaches out and tugs on his hand. She would want nothing more than to hear him out, but to do it here and during this moon phase could spell the end for them. ]

We should get out of here before we start to see anything else. We can talk more once we're in the clear... okay?

[He's a little surprised by the hand tug, but he'll allow it. And he'll just give a low hum of agreement before they start heading out, Eustace conjuring a few lightning orbs to help light the way.]

How deep are we?

[ Maybe, subconsciously, it was a grounding gesture to remind him that she's here, and not some kind of apparition or hallucination made by the forest - but no matter, as she's let go of his hand when they start walking. For her part, she conjures a few floating motes of light, hovering around them almost like fireflies. ]

Not too deep, but we're not close the edge of the forest, either... Ugh, if my spells worked in here, I could cast something to guide us out of here easily or fly us out...

Tell me if you start to see something again, okay? I'll remind you that it's not real.

[Although it's faint, he can feel that nightmare energy crawling along along his skin and he keeps focus on the person next to him.]

...I'll have to take you up on that offer, sorry.

[He doesn't like how this is effecting him more than it should be.]

But I had made some marks earlier...there.

[One of his light orbs flies out to illuminate a bamboo shoot that has some telltale marks on it as well as on the ground beneath it.]

We should turn left.

It's alright. You helped me get out of that cage at the Flower Festival, remember? Not that I think friendship should be transactional, but... Now you could call us even.

[ Her tone suggests that she's trying to do her part to keep things lighthearted. She sincerely would help him, regardless of what their "score" is, after all.

When he indicates the marks, she hums thoughtfully, and looks genuinely impressed. ]

Oh, I see... Good thinking, Eustace. That's always a good tactic especially when you don't have magic to fall back on. Let's go left, then.

[ And left she goes! ]

1

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject