songerein | { bite sized problems}

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{ bite sized problems}

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:

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)
magic winter beans that will grow any vegetable of one's choice through any hard, frozen soil (but will not grow in warm weather)
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:

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.
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).
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:

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…
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.
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:

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—
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.
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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[there's a chill that runs down Riku's spine. was he really speaking to someone from that time? it had actually been a thing that happened, and Keyblades were so much more common than they were in his time?

he nods.]

Yes. There were so many Keyblades there...I wasn't sure if they were accumulated there, or if it was a battle of some sort.

[he pauses.]

There really were that many wielders in your time?

[Ira nods, and despite the fact that his eyes are hidden by his mask, he manages to look sad, and faraway. Especially at Riku's confirmation.]

There were. Daybreak Town used to be full of wielders.

That place was the site of the Keyblade War. Though, based on what I have been told, unfortunately the first.

[Or so he reckons. He knows his Master was fighting the Darkness before then.]

[......Riku can't help but look upwards and close his eyes for just a second. even if he knew it was ridiculous to begin with as he grew older, but the problems from back then really were a sham, weren't they?

it still makes him feel stupid.]

And here I was told in the very beginning that only one person at a time could wield a Keyblade.

[he fights the urge to laugh about it, because he knows it's not appropriate, given the subject and the tone that they were talking with right now. he looks back down at Ira, thoughtful.]

It makes you wonder how much time has passed between our times, and why the facts weren't well known. Had there been that much time between our lives?

[Ira starts at that. Had things really declined so badly that it was down to just one? What a responsibility to placed on that one's shoulders.

Still, a small laugh.]

It is, hard to say. Time has grown a bit fuzzy for me, and coming here hasn't helped with that.

But, it must have been a long time, if by your time there are only remnants left.

[Riku thinks about what it must've been like back then, with so many wielders. if all of those Keyblades belonged to a wielder...there had truly been an army enough to fight almost anything.

he smiles sadly, though.]

There have been more popping up, lately. But Sora and I...we fought over who would wield it, not knowing there could be more than one.

[even though the Keyblade should've gone to Riku first to begin with, but he'd ended up in the darkness...figures.]

It was a tough time.

He has, told me of your adventures.

That kind of a strain is never easy between friends.

[And doesn't he know it.]

Though, again, all I can really do is apologize for driving things to that point.

No...it's not.

[he wonders if Sora had told Riku exactly how far he'd went to try to get the power for the Keyblade...

but then he shrugs.]

It's not like you knew it'd happen. Me and Sora are probably going to cause some problems for someone later on too at some point.

[Certainly, as much as Ira knew the Keyblade War would happen, it's far reaching effects were beyond even the Book of Prophecy.]

I...would not hope not to the extent that I, or, well, we, caused them.

There shouldn't be a reason for Keyblade wielders to clash, but rather unite to oppose the Darkness.

Who knows?

[who knows what the future will hold. who knows what their (or Sora's) time jumping is going to make happen down the road.]

Unfortunately, with light and darkness inside everyone, it's probably inevitable. It might not be in my lifetime, but it'll probably happen again.

[he's not even being pessimistic -- just being realistic.]

Unfortunately, though I would like to hope not.

I would like to see a world like mine once again.

[Maybe it's a pipe dream, but he sounds honest, if nothing else.]

[there's a curious glint in Riku's eyes as he looks at Ira.]

And what was your world like?

[Ira is quiet for a moment, searching for the right words.]

It was...similar in some ways to this town, I suppose in size. But less natural architecture and more houses and buildings. Closer to the ocean as well, there was a wharf. And always bright with promise.

[Riku smiles a little at the idea of it.]

You lived near the ocean too, huh?

[he misses it. that time before their last battle hadn't been long enough back at the islands, back before everything changed even more drastically than before.]

What was it like, having so many people who could use the keyblade around you?

Yes. But not quite as tropical as your island.

[More temperate, but still pleasant.]

I suppose to me it felt like a regular town. But it was warm, with the Light from everyone. A true sense of community, even with the different unions.

[he nods, letting the idea settle into him for a few moments. it really had to be something...]

How many Masters were there, then?

There were five of us, including me. We each led our own Union, competing and supporting each other in protecting the Worlds.

Five?

[he whistles. instead of just himself and Sora trying to put out fires and protecting worlds, it's kind of mind boggling.]

Man...I can't even begin to imagine having five masters to work with.

[it's crazy.]

I have heard that Masters are something of a rarity in your time. Though, I can speak for experience that we didn't always get along.

[Keyblade war or no Keyblade war.]

I think that's just the nature of people in general to not get along.

[there will always be conflicts and dislikes and pettiness, he's realistic enough to acknowledge that.]

There's only three active ones in my time. Mickey, Aqua, and myself. I'm the first one to become a Master in about ten years...and Aqua was lost to the realm of darkness for that same amount of time.

I suppose that's true.

[Ira has to sit with that fact for a moment. Three Masters within that small group of wielders, while they were five for so many.]

To be lost for that long, she must have a very strong heart.

Have there been other wielders since?

[Riku smiles fondly, thinking of Aqua.]

She does.

[he considers.]

Other than me and Sora, there's Roxas, Kairi, Lea... Terra and Ven are from Aqua's time, but I met them fairly recently. [long story lmao] And Xion. Up until the past year or so, I thought it was just Sora and me.

Also, Vanitas and Xehanort.

[a frown crosses his face at the mention of them, but he guesses he might as well mention them too.]

[It's still a little baffling that it is that small a number. That they can all be named. If he was being honest, Ira probably couldn't remember the name of every member of his union.]

Is this Xehanort still a threat?

[He's heard the name a lot. And he has a lot of questions. And also opinions for the man.]

Uh...

[he waves his hand around.]

Unless he has more clones and Heartless or Nobodies hanging around that we don't know about, then no, not anymore.

[....................long story]

[He's heard the simple version at this point. The future's a weird place and he has so many questions now for Luxu.]

That is good to hear. I'm glad that some peace has been found.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

{ bite sized problems}

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