{ bite sized problems}

[dreamposts]

BITE SIZED PROBLEMS

This log is open to everyone and doubles as a "Character Intro" for new characters who were just accepted this round. As a reminder, new characters are welcome to carry over their TDM threads backdated to Gingerbread event and after (27-31) so that they're not really "new" if players wish to do so! Starting fresh is also acceptable.

I. AROUND TOWN

The curse from the witch may have been dispelled, but the magic was strong and remnants of it still remain. A bit of clean-up is required.

A. Gingerbread Revolt. By now many people are likely tired of gingerbread after having to live as one for a little while. However, the witch's magic still lingers and has brought all baked gingerbread to life. While some live out their running trees, others have armed themselves with forks, knives, toothpicks, and—are some wielding a nail gun?? They've begun to rally around various food eateries. While most of them are bakeries, they're also going up against restaurants and even local houses. One might think it would be easy to deal with them, but here's the catch—not only are they fast and can use magic, if one of them is broken they immediately reform into another cookie. That's right, they're just like hydras, and the only way to destroy them for good is to destroy the red candy ball embedded somewhere in their body. It's different for each cookie, and it will change locations if a part of it is broken. They do taste delicious, though.

B. Oven Malfunction. Stoves of all shapes and sizes are also having a rebellious phase, with many malfunctioning in different ways. Some are light and just won't turn on or spit out smoke in people's faces. Others have decided to choose violence and release their fire; throw whatever pots, pans, spatulas, and knives that are nearby; spit out coal, logs, or fire cores; or even explode. Some are even baking out those gingerbread cookies, so stopping the ovens will help fix that problem. While completely destroying them is one way to do it, dreamotion will also go a long way. Using water or ice to douse their flames will help simmer their tempers. Praising the ovens for their hard work and trying to show utmost care will also help. Perhaps some ovens are cranky for being overworked. When was the last time they were cleaned? Just don't sing it Christmas songs—they'll go berserk.

C. Candy Forest. With many requests for fresh new ingredients from the newly formed section of the forest, many will make the short trek over to check out what all is there to find. And yes—everything, everything is made of candy and sweet treats. From taffy grass to peppermint bark lollipop trees to flying marshmallow peeps and snickerdoodle badgers. The problem is, a lot of the "flowers" produce a pollen that permeates through the air and will give anyone who passes through a severe case of sugar rush. Overly excited, faster than usual movements, inability to think straight. The only way to counter this is by eating vegetables of any kind. Eating anything directly in the forest will produce an even greater effect, to the point where someone might start hallucinating and get the giggles. Some folks may need to head in there to help those stuck inside. At least there's nothing dangerous in there…yet.

D. Jumping Snowflakes. Jack Frost briefly stopped by and decided to leave a little gift for everyone to have fun with: giant snowflakes that start at the top of the Tree of Stories and ascend and circle around the town from high up in the sky. Some snowflakes form a stationary pathway for people to walk over. Some will move around and can be controlled by one's will and dreamotion, similar to a magic carpet. Then there's a "challenge" where participants are to jump from one snowflake to the other before it disappears. This trail will lead up to a giant chest that contains a random drop of one of the following:

1. a special ice crystal that can be used to keep anything cool no matter how hot it is outside and will never melt (perfect for ice boxes)
   
2. magic winter beans that will grow any vegetable of one's choice through any hard, frozen soil (but will not grow in warm weather)
   
3. a mini snowman that will not melt and will bounce around the house to help keep it clean and add a little bit of snow for fun; will be great when it gets hot as it will produce cooling air
   The challenge can be run as many times as a person likes, however they will only be able to receive each special prize once. So after receiving all three special items the first time, their only reward is chocolate silver coins.

II. SHORT STORY HELP

As requested by William Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe, the libraries in the Tree of Stories have gathered various books that everyone will be able to dreamwalk into. Even the books themselves look a bit tattered and more worn than usual, showing signs of the Story Eater's nightmarish corruption. A set of objectives for each chosen story will be given out so everyone will have some guidance, as well as a special amulet to wear that if snapped will immediately eject the dreamwalker out of the story back to Songerein. The Story Eater's minions are in a few of these, and any injuries sustained will carry over. The problems will arise several times so repeat visits will be necessary. For each objective attempted, a unique energy will be generated and captured by the librarians for the writers to use. Completion of an objective is not necessary, but it will give a bigger boost.

A. Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Upon entering the story, everyone will be inside the three bears' house…dressed as Goldilocks, regardless of gender. And the three bears are not happy. The original Goldilocks has already gone mad and tore through their home, scaring the baby bear with nightmares. The objectives for this story are:

1. Help repair the damage by: 1) fixing the kitchen and preparing new dinner for the family (not porridge); 2) fix all the broken chairs; 3) get new pillows and blankets for their beds.
   
2. Grab a partner and perform a puppet show for baby bear, preferably with a lighthearted, fun story (players can decide if they are successful or fail in their attempt).
   
3. Track down Goldilocks in the woods just outside the house and capture her. Her corruption is mild and casting a sleeping spell or using some kind of sleep aid will help calm her down. Channeling positive dreamotion energy will also help.

This story will increase the Book's proficiency in healing and purifying the Story Eater over time.

B. Three Little Pigs. Upon entering the story, everyone will find themselves in a large brick house and be turned into pigs. Not costumes, not partial, just full blown pigs. Fortunately, they can still "walk" and talk and move around. Clothes are optional (one can either appear completely without, with the clothes they were wearing upon entering, or find some in the closet). The objectives for this story are:

1. Reinforce the brick house and turn it into a fort. The original pig brothers left behind instructions on how to build cannons, barricades, and traps outside of the house. This can be done magically via dreamotion or through physical labor. Handling a hammer with hooves will be surprisingly easy, as if they all now wield anthropomorphic magic…
   
2. The defense is to keep small black wolves made of ink at bay. They will charge at the house without mercy to try and destroy it. Fortunately, they seem to lack much control and can be easily fended off, especially with the traps and weaponry installed.
   
3. There is only one big bad wolf, and it looks like the Story Eater is trying to corrupt it. It keeps mumbling about being on a diet and tired of blowing buildings down, yet it staggers on and controls the black wolves that try to attack the house. Help purify the wolf by preparing a special porridge for it to eat. It'll take several bowls and some additional positive dreamotion energy channeled into the wolf.

This story will increase the Book's external sturdiness so that it will not break from external forces.

C. Humpty Dumpty. Upon entering the story, everyone will find themselves dressed as a knight of some kind. There is only a giant, crumbling wall and the ground is littered with eggshells, so be careful walking around. Some eggshells are white but many are an inky black that appear to be melting on the ground. There's far too many to have come from the eggman himself, but said eggman is missing from his perch. The objectives for this story are:

1. Find the large egg pieces that have bits of clothing and face on them and piece Humpty back together. He'll try to help by calling out and he'll promise he's fine—happens all the time. However—
   
2. The Story Eater's minions are around, and they'll form from the black eggshells, create hideous versions of Humpty to try and attack and explode on them like rotten eggs. Handle with care as they are quite dangerous and can inflict severe damage. Better to take them out with ranged attacks.
   
3. The minions are coming through the many gaps and cracks in the wall, and one can even hear them scratching through the other side. If the wall goes, this entire story is finished. There are some native knights and other people trying to repair the wall, but dreamotion will help reinforce it. The broken eggshells can be used as bricks and mortar as they will immediately expand and cover the missing areas.

This story will increase the Book's internal defense so that it will not break from the inside.

Comments

i

[darkcharge]

Oh I would just loathe to be your opponent.

[ Which, you know, is laced with so much sarcasm right now. Vanitas is already perched on top of a stack of crates. On either side of him are a couple of Floods. Twitchy and heads jerking to the side. One seems to be stabbing at a little red piece of candy. ]

Too bad it was all for nothing.

[threebetrayals]

[Cocky asshole, meet slightly reformed cocky asshole. Wanderer barely even looks at the weirdo on the crates or the little weird shadow thingies. He's seen worse in Dottore's labs.]

They're crushed, aren't they?

[darkcharge]

[ This will either end poorly or very badly. ]

Crushed doesn't mean defeated.

[threebetrayals]

They're cookies. They're crumbs.

[darkcharge]

I would turn around, were I you.

[ Because you know the moment that anyone says something like that? Those cookies are going to start reforming.

With a vengence. ]

[threebetrayals]

[Wanderer rolls his eyes and first sends a few blades of wind in the general direction of the cookies since really, nobody says "turn around" for no reason. Not a guy with that much sarcasm.

Still, he does turn around after that.]

...why are they alive?

[darkcharge]

If you stick around you learn to stop asking things like "why."

[ Two of those shadowy creatures jump off of the crates. They dart towards the crumbs and broken pieces of cookie.

Looking. Scouting. ]

[threebetrayals]

[They're clearly under the other boy's control, so Wanderer won't attack them. He will, however, just jump, hover a bit, and land on a nearby fence post.]

Are you telling me that living cookies is just something that happens, here?

[darkcharge]

You are stuck in a world that operates on the same level as a dream. Why question anything ridiculous that you might see?

[ Ah ha! One of them found one. It tosses the candy into the air. A different Flood slices it in half with it's sharp "hands." wtf are they really though ]

[threebetrayals]

My dreams aren't nearly this absurd.

[What the hell is that thing, anyway.]

The candies?

[darkcharge]

Aren't you acting like an authority on the subject...

[ In other words: Not everyone is you? Hello? ]

The candies themselves are the source. You can break the cookies all you want, but it's not going to do anything.

[threebetrayals]

I think I would be, if this were my dream.

[But the candies being the regenerative heart or whatever does make sense, so while he can't really aim, it would take a lot more than some sugar to stand up to getting pulled into a vacuum and crushed. Not the most efficient, maybe, but effective.]

[darkcharge]

[ Vanitas would argue about efficiency. Sucking everything in and then just crushing? No escape at that point so... How is that not a good way of handling it? No need to sift through and try to find that stupid red candy if you do that. ]

It's not your dream. Who knows if it is anyone's dream at all.

[threebetrayals]

[He can't do it constantly. That shit is exhausting.]

If it isn't my dream, then why am I here?

[darkcharge]

Who knows. Why are any of us here?

[ Probably ask the dumb residents. Not that Vanitas would ever trust answers given to him by natives. That's just asking for trouble. ]

[threebetrayals]

I'm assuming you've been here longer. You haven't figured it out?

[darkcharge]

Maybe staying here is a better alternative compared to what yet awaits. So why would I care about those sorts of things?

[ Oh he does. Vanitas does quite a bit. Not necessarily for the most obvious reasons. He has o desire to go back to where he is from. There is, perhaps, a desire to go to the last place he had been whisked away to.

With someone else in tow. ]

[threebetrayals]

Because most people would, either because they'd like to go home or because they want to know what dangers await them here.

[What even is this conversation anymore.]

[darkcharge]

[ Two trolls going at each other and being snarky. That's what the conversation has devolved into.

Vanitas blames this guy, mostly. ]

People, key word. You'd have to be a person for that to be applicable, yes?

[threebetrayals]

Oh? You're not one?

[Interesting.]

[darkcharge]

[ See, this is usually on par for Vanitas. He doesn't really keep his opinions about his fractured state to himself. It's not some in depth secret. Everything that he wants is tied into that, after all. ]

A fragment is still a fragment, no matter how big the piece is. So no, I'd say not.

[threebetrayals]

A fragment...?

[Well. Is this anything like Dottore's Segments, he wonders.]

And puppets? They're not human either, are they?

[darkcharge]

Split clean in half, even if I haven't seen the other loser half in a while.

[ Because Ventus... Ventus had been here, briefly. Things have always been tentative with that one. Vanitas really isn't sure how to proceed with him whenever he shows up. There's still a lot of hatred. A lot of bitter, jealous feelings regarding his "missing half," as it were.

But there's been replacements for Ventus here and in the previous location. So who knows if Ventus is even really needed any longer.

Now interestingly enough about puppets - ]

Not initially. The only one I met became one, though. So who knows.

[threebetrayals]

How?

[He doesn't sound eager but also if someone can become human then maybe--

Even know, he wants what he was denied.]

[darkcharge]

[ Vanitas gets that. He's still a bit angry that Xion and Roxas get to have their lives. Namine too, really. None of them should have existed yet... Yet they were able to be gifted with it while Vanitas would always be reaching for, but never obtaining it. ]

The heart, the soul... Whatever you want to call it. What is it really beyond memories and emotions. Emotions associated with memories and people? It was the people that she connected with and the strength of her bond with them that made it possible, I suppose.