logsinthenight | 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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There's a lot going on right now, but Cao Pi is somewhat relieved to see Daylight. Young and enthusiastic, trusted, and brave. He shakes off whatever gloom is clinging to him and turns to the young mech. "Master Daylight. I...excuse me? My wife?"

His vaunted calm cracks for a moment, he looks eager, startled, thrilled. A hand thrusts out. "What do you have? Let me see her!"

He's definitely not going to refuse that earnest request-

Daylight is quick to hand it to Sir Cao Pi, making sure to deposit the opal right into his hand. Judging by the memory and by the reaction, he'd be pretty happy to see her in person - er, much as the memory will allow - again.

It's what he's been craving for eight months, so Cao Pi wastes no time having a look. It's not what he expected, though, what a terrifyingly intimate memory for someone else to see. So while he appreciates having a moment to see it, it leaves him faintly blushing when he turns his gaze back to Daylight.

"Ahem. What would you like to know?" he asks as patiently as he can.

Oh! That's an easy question to answer!

“What’s her name, for one thing!” Daylight grins at Sir Cao Pi, his winglets flicking up in excitement and sincerity. “I’d like to know how I should be addressing your wife properly while we talk." He pauses, considering something now. He then adds, "If I can talk about her, of course.”

"Of course." Clutching the stone to his chest, Cao Pi takes a breath as if to reorient himself in the now. "My apologies, I don't mean to be distracted. It took me by surprise. What you saw is my Lady Zhenji. She was with me in the battle which ended my life and sent me here, so it is my hope that she survived and lives, still."

Daylight’s expression softens at the end, understanding the concern and worry about leaving loved ones behind. Especially with how clear Lady Zhenji means to Sir Cao Pi.

“Well— Judging by how she handled herself when you guys met, it seems like Lady Zhenji.” He smiles again, trying to stay cheerful and optimistic. “I’m sure she’s okay! She managed to handle herself in battle so well from what I saw! That was really impressive to see.”

His smile should be reassuring enough that he's not too sad, or at least can snap out of it easily. "Yes, she is a fine warrior in her own right. She hardly needs a big strong man to protect her when she can take care of herself."

Rather than take the opal and run, though, he leaves it open in case Day wants to know more. After all, he could talk about his lady all day if someone lets him.

Daylight doesn't reach out to grab the opal, though he does have an urge to see more cool fighting moves from both Sir Cao Pi and Lady Zhenji. She clearly means a lot to him and Day can understanding wanting to keep a precious memory to yourself.

"I definitely noticed that," Day comments with a smile, doing his best to be cheerful. His expression softens, looking more thoughtful. "There definitely seems to be a war happening in your world, Sir Cao Pi. She must be a really amazing warrior to get through all of that and then some."

"A war?" That makes him chuckle. "War never ends, Master Daylight. In that moment you saw, my father was waging a campaign against a rival who was, in turn, attempting to bolster his own fortunes and take over parts of the land that did not belong to him. It was hardly the first nor the last war I have been involved in. At least..." He breathes a tired sigh. "...at my side, my lady has the luxury of deciding when she wishes to take the field, rather than being ordered or required by someone with only victory on his mind. She gets to enjoy the security of the palace, the comfort of my throne, and the love of our people."

It's not all about him, though, so he wonders, "Do you have someone like that, young master? Since you are so clearly capable of love..."

The question about whether or not he has someone special is immediately answered: He looks surprised and flustered, his winglets hiking high behind his back as he raised his servos up, waving them back and roth.

“I— Um— I guess— Well...” Oh jeez, is there a way for him to direct the conversation back to Sir Cao Pi? Like, at all? “I… I guess you can say that, yeah...”

In the end, Day decides to, you know, actually and properly answer the question. “… Yeah,” he manages to say at long last, ducking his helm as a shy but genuine smile flits across his face. “His name is Emergency Aid, the Chainbreaker. He, um, is part of the medical personnel back on the starship and is the medic for the fireteam I'm part of. He’s, like, amazing. Really witty and funny and nice when you get to know him and super smart and...”

He trails off, laughing a bit, because, oh man, he got himself babbling over his boyfriend. “I love him so much that it isn't even funny. He's great.”

Cao Pi helpfully does not bring up the point that Day was now dead and bereft of his lover. They all pretty much know that, already. "Intriguing," he notes. "It seems no matter who we are or where we come from, we all share the need to love and be loved." He offers the slightest of gentle looks. "You are not the first I've met here to have a 'relationship of the cut sleeve.' There is a story that one of our emperors so loved his male consort that one night, when he was awoken in the middle of the night for an emergency, he preferred to cut off the sleeve of his robe rather than wake his lover."

Not a detail he needs to frequently talk about, but after talking about it with Quentin, the story has been on his mind. Daylight is probably the type to appreciate such a cute tale.

Cao Pi is right on the money that would Daylight would appreciate the story. Upon finishing his tale, Day clearly perks up, squealing in joy while he clasps his servos together. It takes all of Day's strength to not outright go, 'Awwwwww!' at the end.

"That's so sweet!" He's never heard of this before and he's glad Sir Cao Pi is letting him know about this. Day will never admit it but he is a sap when it comes to romantic stories. "I don't know if Emer would ever, ah, cut something off of him for me but I like to think he'll be sensitive and thoughtful as the emperor and-"

"Oh." Something occurs to him just now, as if his processor (the sensible part) is going, 'Hey! Day! Notice this!' and he picks up at it. "I'm not the first you've....! Oh! You've someone's opal that contained memories of their lover too? Oh wow- It never occurred to me that similar memories might be out there-"

... Sometimes the dots will be presented to him but Daylight will, somehow, draw the lines in a completely different way. Atta boy.

EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

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