logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

characters: everyone.
location: the path from downtown beacon to the harbor; all over town.
date/time: february 16-21.
content: the forest spirits send off their friends to join the aurora. memory opals drop from the eerie green lights above.
warnings: n/a.

i had all and then most of you, some and now none of you.

For most of the day on February 16, all of the town's forest spirits can be found along the stretch of road between downtown and the harbor, clearly setting up for, uh, something. They're piling snow onto the pathway, creating a miles long sled trail that starts outside the Landmark Inn and ends at the very end of the harbor's dock. Not only that, but the forest spirits are also not super willing to explain what they're up to! They're busy, you lantern-havers.

By the time evening rolls around, the spirits have set up wooden railings alongside the snowy path, as well as a warming tent, hot chocolate booth, and announcer stand outside of the Landmark. Oh, and a starting banner for the race! It's dogsled time!

Throughout the event, Beacon's downtown and harbor areas will be completely overrun with forest spirits, all there to bear witness to this holiday celebration—this holiday is for them, though, not you weirdos with your naked faces. Point is, none of the spirits will be hostile at this time! They're more interested in interacting with each other than with Beacon's residents, though if pressed, a kind spirit might be willing to explain what's going on:

The aurora arrives in Beacon for about a week each year, and the forest spirits believe it to be "friends in the sky". The lights are old friends of theirs, it seems! And each night while the aurora shines above the town, the forest spirits send off a handful of friends to join the aurora! The spirits ready to join the aurora build sleds of their own and assemble mighty sled teams, sometimes comprised of dog spirits and sometimes... other stuff. Then, when the aurora is at its peak in the wee hours of the night, the sled teams will ride off one by one, racing down the snow-covered path all the way down to the harbor, where they'll finally rocket off the dock and out over the lake, picking up more and more speed as each team gallops wildly over the water before arcing up into the sky. Once the spirits are barely a speck, they'll hit the aurora and burst into a shower of light. Beautiful stuff!

See, since the aurora is made of light, forest spirits launched into it are killed on impact! Isn't that wonderful! The forest spirits seem to think so! What is death to a dead thing!

All of this information can be learned through handwaved/played-led interactions with the forest spirits during the event. They'll all be focused on saying goodbye to their friends and cheering them on as they stream through the sky, but they're happy to welcome lantern-havers to join in the celebrations. The hot chocolate is free and only tastes a little bit like mud, so. Enjoy!

•••
For the entire duration of the event, the aurora will dance in beautiful silence overhead, lighting up the whole town with its eerie green glow. Every so often, handfuls of opals will rain down like meteorites from the lights above, and these opals each contain the memory of someone currently in Beacon! They can be found all over town, landing on paths and atop buildings and maybe even rocketing straight through your ceiling to crash into your living room. Perhaps a forest spirit decided to hide some shiny rocks in your cereal box or under your pillow... Better hope the Postmaster General doesn't find your opals before you do, though. That spirits sure does love their rocks. Point is, who knows where the opals might turn up?

On that note, if you signed up for a random event, we'll be RNGing characters to receive these random events throughout the event! The event may happen in response to a toplevel on this event log, or we might turn up in your IC inbox... 👀 These events will be entirely random, meaning we could dole out any number of them at any time, so it'll be a fun surprise for all of us.

If you missed signups and would still like to toss your name in the ring, go right ahead! Signups will remain open throughout the event, though we can't promise everyone who signs up will get something.

And finally... Each day, we'll post a list of the forest spirits joining the aurora! What, did you want to know in advance? The forest spirits have never been a particularly organized bunch, so they're winging this—which means more surprises for you. :)

Enjoy the races and the lights and the opals, residents of Beacon, and remember: WHAT IS DEATH TO A DEAD THING!

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[She exhales slowly, softly, her head tipping forward as she stares at nothing for a long few seconds. All right. All right, so he'd seen Robert. So he'd seen them intimate, gathered in one another's arms, looking at one another so adoringly there could be no mistaking how they felt one another.

All right.

All right, then. She sits slowly, her fingers curling and uncurling against the grain of the table.]

You needn't ask my forgiveness. I doubt you picked them up knowing to whom they belonged; it was a mistake.

[She sounds distant, but she means it.]

But now, I think, you understand why I wouldn't tell you what Robert looked like.

[Soldat glances up at him sidelong, and half-smiles.]

Easier to do this than crouch, or bend down.

[But that was still an order, so they do pick themselves up. Just they're allowed to talk back a little, these days.]

[ SORA IS CHARGING UP THE RUNWAY WITH A PARTIALLY REPAIRED CHAIR OVER HIS HEAD and he's slamming it down next to the barkeeps' sled before thrusting the last of the Valentine's chocolate in with them! And he'll sit down hard, breathing really hard because oh god he knew he should have tried way harder to apologize to the bartender spirits properly! Now they're about to go and he's feeling just a touch verklempt.

He sniffs a little because he knows that crying isn't actually needed here, they see death differently, but he'd tried his best to repair this connection and he's sorry he couldn't do more in the time he didn't realize they didn't have and - look, he's perfectly aware this is a him problem, just let him have his big-ass emotions, okay?? They're just going to have to deal with his goofy ass sitting on the ground with this stupid shitty chair gulping down big sad breaths as he waves to their sled. It's just what's happening here.

Goodbye, sweet barkeeps! He hardly knew ye!!!! Sorry about all the shit he broke!!! And that one time he was a super big asshole!!!!! He'll miss you!!! ]

[It's pretty (and warm, oh god, finally), and they're already putting their hands on one of the crystalline walls when Kal speaks, trying to feel the hum as much as hear it.]

Kal. Why would anyone want fortress of solitude. That sounds terrible.

[Soldat is of the opinion that being alone is kind of awful. Even on the occasions when they're unable to actively interact with people, they still want them nearby.

They sigh at the advice. Climb. Yup. With broken ribs, a fractured jaw, and potentially frost-bitten toes. This is gonna be great. They don't even have their usual steel-toed boots. Still, they do it, going for the easier handholds first, aiming to spider across to the higher ones. (I miss my metal arm already.)]

"He didn't think he would, either, just kinda happened. He doesn't like doing that much." And now he's withdrawn as far back as he consciously can, avoiding the whole situation. Soldat doesn't necessarily blame him. They drift over to the seat closest to hers and sink down, giving up on detangling for the moment in favor of rubbing their forehead. The tugging, gentle or not, was making the headache worse. "I'm okay. As okay as I'm gonna be, anyway. You?"

[ Sora will pause in his wave to Elle - hey, he remembers you, goldfish girl - interrupted by her sudden comment. He'll look up with her, other hand in his pocket, watching them thoughtfully. ]

I hope so. Maybe it's like being on a rollercoaster? [ He cheers up quite a bit thinking about the possibility. ] Maybe that's it. Knowing that they'll have fun right before they go out.

[ Hearing her voice again also confirms something that he'd suspected when he first picked up the stone - yep, the moth named Fuzz is her... friend? He hesitates to say pet because of the way she talked to him. Stuff to ask once to they get to that part of the conversation. ]

[Oh, and whatever she had expected, it wasn't that. Rosalind glances over in surprise, studying his profile, before turning back towards the aurora.]

Tell me what you miss. More specifically.

[ He's about to ask Aziraphale what he's doing, but then remembers that Soldat told him that he's an angel and so assumes that it's some sort of angel-y blessing thing. Probably. Maybe.

Nah. You know what? He's going to ask. No point in assuming anything. ]

Will that help them find their friends? Like, once they're on their way to the next stop.

[By now Jo has an idea of what happens when a stone is picked up, but she's never been good at ignoring shiny things. She has a feeling that somewhere out there are stones with her memories.

And she wants those.

The memory first overwhelms her with light, and next with joy. It's a happy memory, another blissful childhood moment that makes being in Beacon feel a little more melancholy.

When the banner appears she pays a little more attention to everything. Day has been a good friend to her. She can't imagine what much of his life would have been like, and while this isn't too different, it's still his.

It takes her longer to reorient herself after the memory fades. She quickly finds herself missing the sunlight and flowers. Oh, well.

She needs to give this to her giant robot friend. Calling him doesn't take long, he's in her favorites anyway.]

Hey, Day. Where are you?

[Comedy is something this place needs so much more of. Maybe something he needs more of, he realizes, as he comes out of the vision lent by the opal. He recognized Midge's voice all right, laughed internally along with the crowd before her as they delighted in her brutal takedown. Still finds himself beaming now under the light of the aurora.

When he finds Midge later, he nods to her and smiles again, remembering the memory.]

Found out earlier today you're one hell of an entertainer back home.

[There is a soft distant rustling of paper and then the familiar creak of the door as Naminé pushes it open.] Sora? [She meets his gaze and blinks.] Your eyes are red, are you okay?

[There is a brief hesitation before she opens the door wider and steps away to let him inside.]

Come in. It's just me right now. I was drawing so... it's a bit messy. I'm sorry.

[It's only been a few weeks but there are already piles of drawings on the small table in the room with her and Hana's favorites taped or nailed or balanced on the walls.]

[Naminé isn't hard to find. Not only does she live a few rooms down from Sora but she regularly wanders around the lit areas of the town, taking in the sights or sketching using the supplies she'd gotten at the general store. There is so much for her to experience first hand and while the darkness is daunting at times, the recent gray light of the island has made it a little easier to see the buildings and setting around her.

She's found a few opals herself, memories that belong to both her and others. Naminé isn't sure what to do with them but she knows that they need to be returned to their owners. Memories are precious things.

She is holding one such memory in her palm when she spots Jason by the fire. They've never met in person but they've spoken before and she's asked Sora a little bit about him.

Naminé slips the opal into her sweater pocket and steps over towards the boy.] Excuse me. Are you Jason? [She isn't actually sure but she hopes that she's right.] I am Naminé.

"I am." Naminé finished scribbling the last few lines of the spirit she was trying to commit to memory before looking up to see who had approached her. She didn't recognize him but she greeted him with a warm smile nonetheless. It was hard to see or meet everyone here but Naminé hoped that one day she'd be able to make friends with everyone.

"I saw this spirit earlier. I don't really know what will happen to them but I wanted to remember them." Things that were drawn couldn't die or be forgotten.

She paused and not knowing that he was blind made it seem like he was staring at her. "Am I in the way? I was trying to make sure I wasn't." It's hard to find a place where she can zone out and sketch without being in the way of something.

Naminé wasn't sure what to do when a Baubledook suddenly appeared near her side. She tried to stay out of its way but her uncertainty and questions froze her in place. She knew immediately that she had chosen poorly when she'd suddenly stopped but she hadn't met too many of the odd and interesting spirits that lived in Beacon. The one she had the most interaction with was at the Landmark Inn.

It was already gone before she thought to utter a soft 'I'm sorry' and by that point it didn't matter.

Next time she'd try and move faster but for now, she was going to find a place out of the way to draw the spirit.

It was no large effort to find you. I already had these categorized so that I could hand out opals to any that I passed.

[He's proud of his work. This is how organization and having a system improves lives, and all it takes is effort and focus.]

Now, I believe there is someone else to whom I must deliver an opal-

[No time for social bonding, there is always work to be done.]

[Ashford is on the porch of his house, leafing through one of several books he has piled beside himself. He doesn't look particularly interested, actually he's a bit disappointed given he'd been hoping for a history book or a tech manual but instead he's mostly been met with poorly written (at least in his opinion) romances.

Ashford lifts his head when he hears someone approaching and instinctively starts half smile when he sees who it is, but that quickly falls away when he gets a better look at Stone's face. His expression turns guarded.]

....Are you gon'tell me it is one of these?

[He reaches into a pouch on his tool belt and holds up an opal. One of Stone's opals, as a matter of fact.]

(ooc: is it ok to go with memory 7?)

Yeah. I know the feeling. I don't have many people back home I'd want to see again, but - I don't want to see them again at the same time. Not here. It's better that they stay alive.

[He offers her a reassuring smile, though. He might not have anyone he loves the way she loves Rakan, but what he does have he cherishes. Love for friends and family can be just as strong in his experience, if not stronger.]

They'll remember us. We'll stay alive in their memory. And we'll remember them here.

The goal was to keep skills, reasoning, and tactical ability intact... just not personality. Or loyalties. The body remembering what was taken away from the mind. It more or less worked, anyway, between the fear and the programming.

"I know that now." So much has changed, that they can even say that. Six months isn't objectively that long, but it's still long enough to be miles from where they started. Hell, they're facing someone showing annoyance, and they're... not shutting down. (Hey, good job!) Soldat blinks a few times, digesting that, then elaborates. "But when I didn't have any, didn't know what they were, and they kept taking over and making me think I was somewhere else." They shrug. "Felt like malfunctions."

"You know, I'm not sure," he answers, frowning to himself as he gives it a few more seconds of thought. "We've called them that, and they've referred to themselves the same way, for all of known history. So I don't know who came up with it first. Those ones and a few others are the closest to humans out of all the races back home, just with a few obvious differences."

Of course, known history is sort of a short period of time. The downside of losing a century of knowledge and having some of the previous historical records lost or destroyed in the process - the collateral cultural damage comes up in unexpected ways sometimes.

Court official. That makes hims sound like a noble of the old Cybertron, spending his days with the Senate and discussing politics and etiquette.

"Primarily, I was a soldier. I held a position in which I hunted down violators of military law, but I also lead missions from time to time."

[ The difference of gravity pulling him down and Peter pulling him up makes Kal let out this noise of pain; if it were anyone else, his arm likely would’ve popped out of its socket. As it is, Peter has a good grip on him, but despite his ability to fly now at ungodly speeds, it seems his strength remains the same as it’s always been. ]

Thank you. [ The words are gasped out of Kal’s mouth, and he takes in the look of his saviour before his eyes widen as he lands on his chest. Right in the middle of Peter’s chest is the crest for the House of El, and Kal can’t believe it. Peter will find he’s in full tights, too, similar to the one that Kal wears even if the crest on Kal’s suit is black and red instead. ] …who are you?

[ In the far, far, far distance, Peter will hear a call for Superman, though less for help and more in anger. Kal doesn’t seem to react to it, but it also looks like he doesn’t hear it at all. ]

Edited 2020-02-21 04:11 (UTC)

Even in six months, the change from Asset to Soldier to Soldat is pretty noticeable, if one knows what to look for. They're doing all right, Rosi, and they'll get the rest of the way there.

They nod. "Of course." Maybe by the time they do collect some opals for Rosinante, they'll be closer to stable, and can even give him some explanations.

If he wants them, anyway.

Time to slink off and try to digest this, make their head stop pounding, and probably eat something. (Who are they kidding, the answer is always eat something.)

Aww buddy. He was a fan of that morose sighing sort-of-cat. But he won't stop him. Farewell little friend. May you sigh among the stars.

Well that's unfortunate. He'd grown fond of the ever present barkeeps who trundled around and were generally pleasant and chill. Alas, if this is what they choose he'll send them off with a salute.

You'll be missed barfriends.

[ It's the sound of crying that comes first, even if it's quiet and blubbering like whoever's doing it is trying not to be heard. If Jason turns to look at it, every inch that his eyes travel transforms beneath his gaze: from the colours of the aurora, it turns into blue skies from above and what seems to be tall, tall walls of dirt all around.

The hand holding the opal will feel tingly, especially in the knuckles. Jason will notice that there's dirt on his skin, both on the top of his fist and on the side of it. There's dirt all over the front of his clothes, which consist of a plaid shirt open over a white tee and some old, comfortable jeans.

A little boy stands a few feet away from him, dirtied shoes flat on the dirt and his whole body sat and curled up in a ball. That's where the crying is coming from, it looks like; he's got his arms wrapped around himself, his glasses askew as big, fat tears roll down his face and fall onto the dirt beneath him.

The kid can't be more than seven years old, and he looks terrified.

There's a dog collar held tightly in one small fist, but no signs of a dog anywhere. ]

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EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

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Aurora

i /backdated a few days whoops

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