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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yes, I have. I noticed." The casual approach is appreciated, though. Before he actually reaches for it, though, Cao Pi regards Hughes cautiously. "What makes you say that?"

Good question. There hadn't been a name, but he'd seen it clearly enough and there was a feeling involved. "A hunch I suppose." He smiles, "Go on. I think you could use this one." After the time Cao Pi had had recently, it wouldn't hurt to have something at least a little nice.

Damn, that smile is disarming. Cao Pi decides to go for it, grasping the opal easily and disappearing for a few fleeting moments into a time and place that leaves him aching with melancholy. And joy, sure, but wow that's a punch in the gut, seeing her like that again. When he comes out of it, he squeezes his eyes shut so as not to look straight at Maes for a minute longer. "...I...I see. Thank you."

Oh yeah. He recognizes that response. How often had he fount himself holding back as of late? First because of photographs and now because of some of the memories turning up around Beacon. He looks away, letting Cao Pi have a semblance of privacy.

He glances back at him out of the corner of his eye when he finally speaks.

"Hey. If anyone understands missing the love of their life, you're looking at him."

That's right, they had touched briefly on that topic before, in passing. Cao Pi tucks the opal away somewhere very safe and faces him squarely. "Will you tell me more about her? As you say, I could use something light-hearted to get my mind off other troubles."

Maes raises an eyebrow at the request, but he quickly relaxes his shoulders and smiles thoughtfully. "A swapping of wife stories, hm? All right."

Normally he would gush about his daughter, it had been awhile since he'd spoken of his wife. He considers for a moment what to share and then just decides to go with a little history. He doesn't talk about his past often and these memory stones have made him nostalgic.

"I met Gracia when I was fresh out of the military academy. She was working at a local bakery in the city I was stationed at and if they hadn't been running us in drills on a daily basis I might have put on more weight from the number of times I stopped by there. She caught on to me pretty quick, she's clever like that. I managed to convince her to write me during the war and when I survived that I asked her to marry me soon after getting home."

That is just entirely too adorable, even an ice-cold heart like Cao Pi's would melt over that. "A baker? Many a man has been snared by food, I don't blame you. I'm sure she kept you well sustained during training."

“Very much so. I knew pretty early on that I was going to ask her to be my wife. I’m just lucky she actually agreed to it.” He smiles fondly. “Now I get her meals for myself all I want.” She had left the job at the bakery shortly after she’d gotten married. After all, he’d been promoted a lot during the war and his salary was more than enough for them both to live comfortably.

“What about you. How’d you meet Lady Zhenji?”

Since he hasn't yet received the stone from Daylight, showing that exact moment, Cao Pi is happy to tell the tale in his own words. "Battle, actually," he says with a smirk. "She had married into the Yuan clan, but her husband was dead. My father decided it was time to take Yuan Shao down a peg or two, and we clashed at Guandu. I quite literally ran into her on the field and we stared each other down a moment, before she persisted in fighting me. I managed to fend her off without harming her, and I admit from that moment I was smitten."

He paces a few steps away, lifting his head to bask in the glow of the aurorae. "I cornered her a second time near the close of the battle, as our forces breached Guandu Castle, and asked her on the spot to leave the Yuan and be my wife. Perhaps it was a terrible time to propose, but she agreed, so it worked out for the best."

Maes leans forward to listen. It's a very engaging story, to be sure, almost straight out of a novel. Thinking of his own experience on the battlefield it was hard to imagine proposing to someone in those circumstances, but perhaps it was different in Cao Pi's culture or world. Though there were only so many differences in how a battle was waged.

He sits back, smiling, "She sounds like quite the impressive figure."

"She is." He glances over with an impish look. "What you saw was a quiet moment. Under threat, or when challenged, my lady can freeze an opponent with her glare. She knows how to keep everyone around me in line." A thought which makes him laugh softly under his breath. "I have met the gentle wives of other lords, the kind who shrink behind them and never raise their eyes to even meet the gaze of a man. My lady is the first to snap back with a remark should someone disrespect her or me, and I love it so."

Cao Pi's description reminds him less of his own wife and moreso of Riza. Although that wasn't exactly fair to Gracia who could certainly hold her own when the situation called for it. After all, she'd worked at a bakery fending off customers -- including a vast military presence -- for a few years. And she'd certainly been clever enough to keep up with him and know when things were troubling Maes.

He could not have survived his life post-war time had it not been for his wife. However, he knew very well that he had not married a warrior. Roy would likely never marry Riza, despite his attempts to put the two of them together, but if they were to marry Maes could easily imagine it being a relationship similar to the one Cao Pi had with his own wife and the thought makes him smile.

"I can imagine. I'm glad you found someone that was your equal...both on and off the field of battle. It's a nice feeling and I think we may be some of the few people here that understand it."

EVENT LOG: THE NIGHT WE MET

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