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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Heh. No, not quite.

[She could have stayed on the roof, he thinks. But instead he crouches down to come closer to her own height so that he can hand her the stone, wrapped carefully in a scrap of fabric from the general store's supplies.]

I can't remember if you've said his name before. But I'm sure you must miss him here. I hope this helps.

[He smiles, though it's one laced with sadness. Leaving someone you love and knowing you won't see them again can't be easy.]

[She always underestimates how tall Rosinante is. Maybe she should climb back up there later. But it's not the first thing that comes to her mind as he hands her the stone and she briefly freezes- a memory of him, huh. And it's that memory as well when they promised themselves to each other. How many moons have passed since then, and she still remembers it so vividly? She doesn't need a stone for it, but it always helps. That familiar feeling...

Xayah blinks a few times to push away the burn in her eyes and sighs.]

...Rakan. His name's Rakan. [She turns the stone slowly between her fingers.] I console myself with the fact that he's not dead. I don't want him dead... no matter how much I miss him. [She still has his feathers on her, on her brooch that's on her shoulder, although the color not standing out due to darkness.]

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.

[Rakan was everything she had left- her friend, her lover, her family... well, they planned to be a family, at least. They hoped they will be, once they have dealt with shadow magic and the acolytes and Zed and everyone that came hunting them down like animals. She had promised they will be and yet, here she is. Praying to the spirits of Vastaya to guard him for she had failed.]

I just wish I could've done more for him...

[She had unintentionally dragged him into her mess. It's fine if she's paying for it, but Rakan doesn't deserve it. His heart is too pure, golden like his feathers.]

If I may ask- whom did you leave behind?

[While he can't stop her asking, he's too hesitant to give real details. Some people have learned more about him already than he's comfortable with.]

Someone I was taking care of. Just a kid, so... I'm hoping he 's figuring things out without me. He's old enough.

[Thirteen going on fifty, mentally, with everything he'd seen. But then, Rosinante was the same. He managed all right.]

[ She won't ask for details if he doesn't want to share them- she's a private person herself and doesn't talk about her affairs. This was one hell of an exception; the rock didn't really give her a choice. ]

Mmm. Kids are tougher than they look. There's something so resistant and unyielding in them. I've seen it a lot.

[ -lived that way ever since her tribe disappeared. There's certain stubbornness to young people that have them rebel and push on regards to all oddities. ]

I am sure they will grow into a fine person, just like yourself.

Edited 2020-02-22 06:11 (UTC)

Heh. Well, thanks. Guess you could say I have some faith in him doing just that.

[Not becoming too much like himself, though. Law hates the government, hates the Marines, would never enlist the way he had done himself at that age. But Law will undoubtedly make something of himself, if those old legends about the clan he belongs to are true. Law has inherited one hell of a legacy, and he's proud he was able to play a role to ensure that Law would live to see it through.

Hopefully. Maybe it's all just superstition. But he's optimistic.]

He's definitely unyielding, though. That's a good word for it. Stubborn brat.

[There's no smile on his face, but it's somewhat audible in his voice - that's an endearment, not something to be taken too literally. Law is a brat, but the kid's his brat.]

[It's nice having this- someone to leave behind yourself to follow in your footsteps, to believe in what you did, what you said, what you loved. Her own circumstances didn't allow her much to have children but she wasn't averse to the idea. She just didn't want to bring them in the world where they will be treated like beasts and hunted down for their magic.

Rosinante was a fine man, Xayah had come to conclusion after all this time spent here with him. They aren't the closest of friends, but she respects him a lot- whoever he had in his protection, Xayah doubts they would turn out in the wrong way.]

My father used to sing me songs of trees that grow through the stone. Their path rough, but they bloom the prettiest.

[Her attempt at consolation... probably not as good as it could be, but she honestly has no idea how else to do it. She spent most of her life hunting down other humans and killing them to try and perserve the rest of Vastayan people and heritage.]

That's beautiful.

[He does smile now, subtly. He loves hearing of the tales and customs of other cultures, for his own world is so varied and he cherishes that variety. Here is no different - they've come from so many places across the universe, and even if most are from Earth that world is big and diverse also. Now they all get to tell each other what they've seen and learned. How had his ancestors been so blind? People, all of them, are beautiful in their own ways. That's something that should be celebrated.]

I'd love to hear some of your father's songs. Or anything else like that, honestly. Your people seem close to nature. I think that's admirable.

[She also smiles, with a short nod-]

The Vastaya had always lived as part of nature. They respected each other- nature provided food, shelter, and magic, and Vastaya provided admiration and protection. It was a circle my ancestors respected, and things my father taught me as well.

[Her eyes move from Rosinante to look around the forest they are in. It's not Ionia, hell, there's not even ounce of magic in the air around here, no tiny spirits tending the trees and branches during long winter. She had tried before to commune with the forest, but to no avail. Aside from not being a nourishing type of Vastaya, the forest was, well, dead. It saddened her, a lot.]

You want to hear a song, huh? Hmm, I'm not as good as my father when telling those, but I suppose I can sing you one.

[She sings him a song about the ancient Vastaya spirits saving the human race from the catastrophe; hiding them in their tall trees and deep alcoves, the spirits provided shelter, food, and water; song then goes on about the Vastaya falling in love with humans which in turn brings to life creatures like Xayah- a half-human, half-animal, something people call a chimera. She finishes the song with the great divide- humans that remained as they are went separate way, leaving the Ionian forests, while Vastaya split into tribes of the air, land, and water, remaining to live in unison with the wild.]

[It's fortunate that in this place, thanks to whatever strange shared language Beacon generally grants them, he understands the lyrics. Even if he hadn't, though, the melody is lovely. He doesn't know much about music, but he appreciates it, and appreciates those who craft and perform it, too. He closes his eyes and listens.]

It's a shame I'll never get the opportunity to visit your home myself. From the little I've heard, I think I would like it. It's different from anything I've ever known. You have a beautiful singing voice, by the way.

Ionia welcomes all, [for better or for worse,] I'm sure you would've enjoyed the mountains.

[There's pink dust of color on her cheeks as she gets complimented for something that's not fighting skills, and she can't help but giggle a bit.]

Thank you but I am not as good. You should've heard my father or Rakan sing. That's real music for the ears and balm for the soul.

[There was just something in their voices that made you feel as if everything's going to be alright, even if the entire world is against you.]

Well, unless I get the chance some day, I guess you get all the honors instead.

[And it's not just flattery, or something like that. He likes music and there hasn't been nearly enough of it here. Sure, there's the jukebox at The Invincible, and that's fine, though he's heard all its songs a hundred times over now. They do have Songbird now too, admittedly. But all of that music is so alien to him compared to something simple and earnest like someone singing traditional songs from their homeland. That's real music.]

Do you know Duster? I think he plays a few instruments and was looking to get together with others who could perform. You guys could do live music nights every now and then. I'd come.

In that case, [she gives him a theatrical bow, legs crossed in front of each other,] thank you kindly.

[Rakan would probably shout "of course it's great, I'm the best after all", and well, while she'd want to argue that notion, he really was the best at singing. Constantly humming something and then getting her to sing as well. A pest she loves so much.]

Yes, I met him. I didn't know he could play an instrument, however. [She? Performing? She's not the one for center stage, that's not how she usually worked.] Mm. I'm not sure the others would find my songs interesting or fun to listen to.

[But maybe she should try...]

You might be surprised. Or maybe he can teach you some from his world. We're actually all pretty lucky that we get to share things from home like this. Wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

[Hell, maybe he could teach them some of the songs he knows. A few he's not even sure what the tune is supposed to be, for when you get a whole unit of Marines together on a long voyage some of the songs just turn into raucous shouting but it's all in the name of fun. And there are others. The memorial song, the one for fallen soldiers, would probably go over well here - it's solemn, but beautiful, and they all have losses to mourn.]

[Not all things and memories are for sharing, is what she thinks briefly, but doesn't voice. She doesn't want to ruin the mood. But the songs... she won't mind sharing those. Their main purpose is just that- teaching and showing others the way of their life. She will happily listen to any song Rosinante has in his store- maybe he can even join this little musical show.]

A silver lining in a disaster like this. [Her ears twitch,] I am glad I could see that there are different sides to humans.

[The ones in her world don't deserve mercy, regardless of anything. But some she met here, they don't belong here.]

Sorry the ones you knew were so atrocious. Glad it's not like that here.

[Humans certainly have the capacity to be utterly vile. He's had an abundance of experience with that sort and it's not at all hard to believe Xayah when she says all they gave her people was pain and cruelty. Others here might protest, say humans aren't like that at all, but he knows they sure as hell can be. It's humans, not fishmen or minks or even giants, who operate the slave markets in his world.

But there are still plenty who are kind and loving and genuine. Painting an entire race with one brush doesn't do anyone any favors. He loves humanity, even if he's acutely aware of its flaws.]

You've been staying here lately, right? The greenhouse? How's that going?

It made things a little less... difficult, I have to admit.

[She doesn't have to constantly be afraid someone's after her throat. Sure, the spirits are out there, some very dangerous ones (like the ones that got her all stabbed up), but she doesn't have to be wary of every single person that comes around the corner.

Xayah looks back at the greenhouse and nods.]

It's more... freeing, I guess? It's warm inside and because of glass walls, it doesn't feel too enclosed.

[Human structures, while she can handle them, are not her favorite. The greenhouse gets a pass because she can see outside and the sky.]

[It lacks privacy, he thinks to himself - but that must be less of a concern for her.]

It sure is beautiful. It's amazing all these plants can grow in this darkness.

[But maybe they're just as dead as the rest of them. Or they're the spirits' versions of plants, thriving on darkness. Maybe they'd die in sunlight like the spirits do when they fly up into the aurora.]

[She's been living a nomad life for years on end. She's used to not having privacy unless she makes it that way. It's not a big problem for her.]

I'm used to hearing wind sing through the forests and the spirits tending to the trees. All this silence is unsettling so I find just a little bit of solace in this.

[She doesn't know how these plants thrive, but she doesn't care. At least, not right now.]

If you want to plant something I can help you and tend to it while you're gone.

Really? I've never done any gardening, but - sure, I could try.

[The offer takes him by surprise, but he warms up to it quickly as his eyes go from wide to softer, and a smile grows on his face. Yeah, all right. Might as well give it a go.]

Do you have anything you'd recommend? Something that's not too difficult?

[She's not sure for the others, but gardening is calming to her. There's so much darkness and death and sickness going around that she so easily loses herself in digging and poking the dirt, not thinking about much.]

Some veggies? Maybe succulents? They have thick leaves and hold in water so even when you forget to water them they'll be fine.

Of course, leaving them by themselves for too long would be bad, like with any other plant.

I can help you grow some melons or tomatoes. They need a bit more attention but nothing too bad. Just weeding and watering.

I like tomatoes. I'd give that a try.

[He's not all that bothered by the mention of them taking more attention if she's around to help guide him. Growing something edible sounds like fun anyway, and maybe he can get Mary involved, too.]

Or cabbage? Do you have cabbage seeds?

[Xayah nods,] Yeah, there are actually a lot of seeds left behind by someone.

[Probably the people from the previous reset. She took a few boxes and rearranged the packets so they are easier to find and use. That's mostly what she's been doing around here- cleaning up stuff and arranging it around so it's more accessible, for both her and whoever else wants to garden.]

I really look forward to seeing the plants properly grow. It's been a while.

And I'm looking forward to getting started.

[It occurs to him that he doesn't even really know how long it takes things like tomatoes and cabbage to grow from seeds. Weeks? Months? Guess he'll find out in time.]

While I'm here, you want to show me where a good spot to plant things would be?

EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

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sadly there isn't an actual song written, only mentioned that her father told her these things ;;

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