EVENT ★ WINTER WONDERLAND, THE RECKONING

[futurologists]

HAPPY (NONDENOMINATIONAL) HOLIDAYS When recruits arrive back at Oska, they'll find the place already full of other ALASTAIR teams visiting Oska, and the castle and grounds entirely decked out in festive cheer. The castle is draped in purple and white finery, with a light dusting of unmelting snow everywhere -- even inside, somehow. Don't worry, the indoor snow has been enchanted to be strangely warm. Dagny has taken it upon herself to add a little plant life in and around the castle: mistletoe, of course. It can be spotted growing in little sprigs out of chinks in castle walls, around from wooden doorframes, or even sprouting out of other, unrelated trees. You're never really safe from mistletoe. And what would the use of mistletoe be without the enchantment? Dagny has made sure that there are enough variant species of the mistletoe to offer something for everyone. Recruits may find themselves stuck under any manner of mistletoe, trapped until they fulfill the mistletoe geas. The Classic: This is the standard magical mistletoe, that traps people in a lightly shimmering sphere until they exchange a kiss. Any kind of kiss will do, just pucker up! The Papilion: This is similar to the classic, but its berries come in brilliant shades of orange and pink. It will only release its catch after a butterfly kiss. Clinging Merriment: This mistletoe is all wrapped up in itself, and climbs whatever surface it's on in twisting spirals. All it wants from its catch is a hug, but make it a good one! The Lively Stepper: This mistletoe seems to shiver in some unfelt breeze, and if you listen closely enough, there's a gentle chime of bells that fades when you lean away from it again. People stuck under this plant will have to dance together, to whatever music they can find or make. Whispering Mary: This mistletoe comes with deep purple leaves and seems to hide within itself. Only after a secret has been shared from each person trapped under it will it flower open and release them. Evening Gown: This mistletoe is a gaudy display, with brilliant green leaves and splendid white blossoms instead of berries. It will only release its catch after they compliment each other -- and the Evening Gown always knows when it hears a genuine compliment, and accepts no substitutions! Catflowers: Dagny didn't put this kind out, and has named them after the suspected perpetrators. She's been trying to take them down when she finds them, but there might be a few she's missed. This thorny sprig of mistletoe will only release its catch after they've punched each other. Sorry about that. THE WINTER BALL Exciting news, passed from recruit to recruit and team to team: the castle will host a ball soon! It's set to be on the second night of team Audentes's arrival in Oska, and it's going to be a truly extravagant affair. Nothing to wear? No fear! The wardrobes in each recruit's room will open upon an enormous display of fancy clothing in a multitude of styles. Once you've settled on one (and somehow, the wardrobe knows the difference between trying on and settling on), the rest of the outfits vanish the next time it's closed. The festivities start as soon as the sun begins to sink. Music filters through the air, growing louder to guide partygoers through the castle and into the dance hall, which was definitely not a room in existence until today. The music flows from no discernable source, sometimes swirling orchestral pieces, sometimes something with a heavier beat, for a different kind of dancing. The selection is as varied as the ALASTAIR teams tend to be. Listen long enough, and you might even hear something from your own home universe. A large glass flower shimmers in the center of the room, under which various recruits have taken to leaving presents for one another. Be sure to stop by and check the brightly wrapped parcels for your name! Team Audentes in particular gets a special gift. The north side of the room is decorated in an unmistakable Christmas theme, complete with an enormous, glittering tree. The care put into these decorations definitely has a personal touch, it might even outshine the rest of the hall's decor. Each member of the team has a lovingly wrapped box complete with a bow under this tree, and upon opening it will find a small, intricately detailed, never-melting ice sculpture of themselves -- very possibly in a ridiculous pose. Those who were acquainted with former teammate Nicholas St. North will find that their sculpture features two figures: themselves, and North himself. And of course, what party would be complete without the food? The kitchen has really outdone itself with its spread of delicious foods, suited to all appetites and palates. From gently steaming roasted bird to strangely colored foreign piles of tiny quivering spheres, there's something for everyone. Including the alcoholics among us: the punch is delicately spiked with that incredibly strong drink of Nalawi, which leaves a pleasantly fruity aftertaste and an immediate alcoholic burn. (Any children partaking will find that their cups have somehow filtered out any alcohol and are strangely juice-only.) ICE MAZE Outside the castle, the courtyard has been transformed. Giant shimmering ice walls have sprung up seemingly overnight, forming endless, winding pathways: an ice maze. Stepping into this beautiful, gleaming maze immediately cuts off all sound from the castle life around, so loud just a moment ago. Inside the maze is only the crunch of light snow underfoot, the sound of one's own breathing, and the echoes that bounce faintly here and there. Throughout the maze one might find bits of warm, inviting clothing. A pair of bright red mittens, a puffy coat that fits perfectly to the wearer, a scarf woven in brightly colored, warm wool. If a maze-goer chooses to ignore and walk past this clothing, they might find that something begins to follow them. It starts as just an unsettling feeling, but put off accepting the clothing for long enough and it may turn into lurking shadows in the corner of an eye, a black shape that's there in one second and vanished in the next. A faint yowl may float down a corridor, vaguely feline if only it weren't so deep. Whatever that came from must have been large. Accepting and wearing just one of the offered clothing chases away this unwanted visitor immediately, and in just five minutes more the ice maze will finally bring you out the other side. Don't take any of its gifts, though, and the maze may just lead you to meet the Yuletide Cat instead. (Which just so happens to be Cherenkov and Crowley sharing a giant cat costume. Don't laugh, they worked hard on it.) THE VILLAGE Far outside the castle, the village has been brought back to warm, glowing life. Or at least, that seems to be the case. Team Hearthstone was recently on a mission to recover an item called the Time Catch, and has used it to temporarily, visually turn time back to a time when the village of Oska was populated and lively. Humanoid villagers, all in various shades of purple and blue, hurry to and fro, talking and laughing in a language that goes untranslated by the magitek jewelry. They don't react to any of the recruits, though, and trying to touch any of them will have your hands passing straight through them. Even the restored village around them is just an illusion. One can walk straight into one of the villager's houses and find the warmth of the fire and aroma of the roasted fowl to be completely believable -- but trying to take a seat at the set table will send you crashing straight to the ground to sit in the illusion-covered rubble. THE SQUIDGE PARK After the festivities wind down, you may want to visit the newest addition to the Oska grounds -- the brand new squidge park. After Audentes's success in its mission on Zeta-12, ALASTAIR has been gifted with a clutch of squidge eggs to look after. Audentes need not worry about the squidges in their absence; there will always be someone in Oska to make sure the jelly-like aliens are being nurtured properly. The squidge park is located off the greenhouses in the courtyard; it's an enclosure containing many artificial habitats so the squidges may interact with different environments to help them grow. Right now, they are just eggs, but with enough love and care, they may "hatch" (read: their amorphous blob selves will grow limbs and enter the larval stage) before Audentes even ships out again. OOC NOTES Blind date assignments for those working to complete the Lonely Hearts Club bounty can be found here. ICly, the match-ups are publicly posted in the ballroom for all to see. The other ALASTAIR teams present consist of everything from humanoids to strange creatures; feel free to handwave them in your threads! The only stipulation is that transferred characters (ex. those who have dropped) are not present. The party lasts for one night, and the following day the rest of the teams will pack up and leave Oska to Audentes. The ghostly village-that-isn't will revert back to ruins at this point, as well. However, all other winter amenities will remain for the holidays! Following the party, characters can expect to be in Oska for several more weeks, with the next mission starting in late January. A more detailed calendar for next month will be up soon! Questions about this log, Oska, or the game in general should be directed to the FAQ. You may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Comments

c

[heelies]

[It is the day after the ball that Achilles runs into Ramir at last - for while he had kept a keen eye out for her the night before, she had managed to evade his gaze all throughout the festivities. As such, she has lost her chance to see him clad as he was in such dapper array, but she instead has the opportunity to catch him in his gaudy Christmas sweater: across his broad chest and around his arms, rows of snowflakes and reindeer and holly garlands compete for attention amid bright stripes of green and red. Since losing his native garments to the fire that consumed the saloon, he has had to expand his wardrobe. On his feet, however, are still bound his fine leather sandals, and the cuffs of his jeans he has turned up that he may better show them off.

When Ramir snatches him by the arm and beckons him to look upon the plant that sprouts from the wall, his features twist in bemusement.]

For what are you so impatient to know that which you can discern with your own eyes? It seems to me a sprig of leaves and berries hanging there from the wall - it must be another of the mistletoe plants that now flourish throughout this palace.

[heavyhitter]

[ That sweater is wonderful, and normally Ramir would stop and admire it — but today there's mistletoe around. She instead stares straight up at it, squinting, and decides she can't quite tell from here. Better get closer to the wall it's growing out of for a better look. ]

Yeah, I mean, obviously it's mistletoe. But what kind? That's important.

[ It should be noted that getting closer absolutely means getting closer with Achilles, one arm still wrapped around his shoulders like it is. God, if that's actually the kissing kind, there's no way she's letting him out of this. ]

[heelies]

[Having studied the art of medicine under Chiron, and having committed to memory the appearance of a hundred plants as well as what purpose each part serves, he is a fine man for the job at hand. At her hectoring (ha), he scrutinizes for a moment the plant in question. So far as he can discern, it matches in appearance the sprigs he had spied when caught with bright-eyed Sieglinde and then strong-armed Shizuo the night before.]

It seems to me that this is the sort that shall not let release those who stand beneath it until they kiss one another. But look now, how you have stranded us here! Curiosity truly is a woman's curse, and with it she shall lay low men.

[Yet his tone is more teasing than scolding, for he holds no presumptions that a kiss upon the lips is the traditional way: he has in mind harmless kisses to the hand, such that are woven into the social fabric of his own people.]

[heavyhitter]

[ It is the kissing kind, isn't it? Ramir looks delighted to discover the fact, and immediately rounds on Achilles with a wide smile. ]

Is it a curse, though? [ This smile doesn't seem to think so. ] Curse, blessing... those guys can be so hard to tell apart.

[ She reaches up to sling first one arm around his shoulders, then the other. Sounding not at all disappointed: ]

Guess we better do this, huh?

[heelies]

[She shall then be treated to a sight so rarely seen: that of Achilles balking at the suggestion of intimacy with a woman. His countenance is almost comical, his eyebrows leaping upward and his lips popping open in bewilderment, as she slings her arms around his shoulders and cinches him far too tightly to intend a chaste kiss upon the cheek. He catches her by the waist out of habit, yet even so he tries to disentangle from her that he may establish the appropriate distance between them.]

What is this you are saying? Have you no respect for the son of Klim, whose bed you share? Why all this haste to cast away the love you have promised to him alone?

[Yes, this outrage is brought to you by the guy who wanted to keep both his wife and his not-at-all-platonic male life partner.]

[heavyhitter]

[ The irony of his protest doesn't escape her. But alright, now's not quite the time for it. Her smile does falter a little around the edges at his questions, though. ]

Okay, hang on. I'm not casting away anything between me and Sigma, he knows I love the shit out of him. [ She keeps her arms as they are around his shoulders, but they wait to see if she's gonna call in for a pull away. ] But also we both know about the mistletoe stuff. We got it worked out.

[heelies]

[All one need know about the sexist double standards upheld by his culture is that Odysseus, despite having engaged in two prolonged affairs en route home to Ithaca, is lauded as a paragon of fidelity for his perseverance in returning to Penelope; meanwhile, Helen is reviled as a whore for having run away with Paris.

Isn't misogyny a wonderful net upon which to fall back...

He falls still for her explanation, and his hands remain there upon her waist, although still his bemusement is plain.]

What mean you by this? Speak plainly, for I understand not.

[heavyhitter]

[ It's a little annoying that he can't just trust her to know what she's about, but — alright, fine. She'd probably want more of an explanation than that too. Still, though, the fun of the moment is definitely gone. She pulls back a step or two to fold her arms across her chest, lips pursed. ]

I mean we talked about it. We figured mistletoe is gonna happen, so we might as well be cool about it. Specifically, I'm gonna kiss whoever I'm stuck with, then head back to Sigma and kiss him twice as much. [ She offers a lazy shrug here, still irritated. ] So it's fine. What, you wanna call him up on the magitek and ask about it?

[ Just kidding, annoyance would fan into outright anger if he tried that, don't try that. ]

[heelies]

[He has this terrible habit of ruining everything.]

For what do you fill with such ire? Moreover, can any fault me for my surprise upon such a suggestion as that, and come so suddenly too? Nevertheless, I shall trust your word, daughter of Jolanda, for you are not one to lie about a matter so serious. If Sigma shall not count himself dishonored by that which we may do beneath the mistletoe, than I cannot object - for I must confess that long have I wondered how your kiss might feel.

[So speaking, he holds his hand out to her in an open gesture of reconciliation, waiting but not demanding.]

[heavyhitter]

[ Okay, that's a pretty good handling of her annoyance, she's mollified. Irritation never lasts long, anyway. So her smile is back again in full force in a moment, and she doesn't hesitate to unfold her arms again and take his hand. ]

Oh my god, same here. I mean, honestly I wanted the whole thing, but, we kinda missed that boat, huh?

[ In a second she's got her arms slung around his neck again as they were a moment before, mood having made a full recovery back to bright and cheerful. And, really, that's the only time she gives him to prepare. She's quick to lean in as she pulls him down a little lower, pressing her lips enthusiastically to his. It's not chaste, this is definitely no pure kiss between friends, but enthusiastic really is the key word, above anything like lusty or hungry. ]

[heelies]

[Whatever answer he might have given is dashed upon her lips as she presses into him, and he welcomes her into the fold of his arms. So too, whatever qualms he might still hold for engaging in such lascivious conduct with another man's lover are soon forgotten as he loses himself to indulgence as he so often does.

What he feels in this moment he does not confuse for love or even infatuation, although he has grown to care for her as never he expected he would that day when they had boxed and wrestled upon the storm-soaked beach of Nalawi, each willing the other to capitulate to their inflamed pride. Still, it is a lovely sensation, this thrill of lips moving against lips, one of which he shall never grow tired. Her enthusiasm he matches with his own, although the raw carnality with which he usually approaches such matters is absent. He does, however, catch her lower lip between his teeth to tug and tease, easily fitting this into the rhythm they together set.

When she purposes to pull away, there he shall let it end. He looks upon her now with a warm grin, all traces of bemusement vanished, and his hands lingering still upon her hips.]

What a shame it is that we were made to wait all this time. Yet I must say too that Sigma is a blessed man indeed if he is to now receive two such kisses, made all the sweeter by love.

[heavyhitter]

[ All in all, she decides as she pulls away: pretty good. She's got a good idea that it's a whole lot different if you're actually planning to get all the way to business with this guy, but as far as a kiss between friends goes, she'll take it. She pats the chest of his stupid sweater as she steps back again to make a little space for them, smiling fondly. ]

Yeah, he sure is. [ And so is she, honestly. It's a great deal. ]

Anyway, I'm gonna have to mark this guy down, I love that kissing kind, it — 

[ That's about where she suddenly bounces off of empty air. She'd been fully expecting to be able to start a stroll away, rambling as she goes, but apparently not. She blinks, bewildered, and shoots a glance above them. ]

Wait, I thought we did it! What the fuck?

[ Wrapped insidiously around the first, larger sprig she'd seen, she realizes now, is a smaller, twisted little thorny thing. She stares at it with her neck craned back, disbelieving. Clever. ]

[heelies]

[No remark shall he make on Ramir's craving for kisses from the lips of so many when already she has pledged her heart to Sigma, for he has long since learned that she cannot be confined by his own culture's strict standards for women, and he respects her for reasons more important than what harmless fun she chooses to have beneath enchanted plants. By degrees slow and faltering, his horizons have indeed stretched farther, although this may be difficult for others to recognize when so many of his customs still stubbornly hold him.

His warm expression fades only for the realization that they still are held captive by a second strange plant in the shadow of the first. He peers upward that he can determine what bewitchment this sprig bears.]

I recognize it not... What must we now do to satisfy the enchantment placed upon this plant and thus free ourselves?

[heavyhitter]

[ That's a great question. Ramir considers it, staring ait the thing for a good few seconds. She'd gotten the full rundown on them earlier, what had she been told about the thorny one...?

Oh, right. How could she forget. ]

Catflowers. [ She rolls her eyes. It's always cats. ] I think that's the punching one.

[ Should be totally fine, right?? They're sturdy people, they totally got this. ]

[heelies]

[He looks to her in consternation for this news.]

Then it is violence for which this plant lusts!

[And he cannot help but add wry comment.]

It seems that Klim's son shall have his vengeance even so. Well do I remember the strength of your punch - half of Hellas you could best in the boxing ring, and that is with one arm bound behind your back!

[heavyhitter]

[ Okay, that gets a laugh. She'd be offended that he thinks she could only take half of Hellas, but the with one arm tied part makes up for it. ]

Aw, come on, Sigma likes you. He wouldn't wanna sic me on you just for a kiss.

[ But that's happening anyway, so she edges out one foot to square her stance a little. Her eye on Achilles gets a little more critical, a little more ready, but her body language hasn't gone far from relaxed. ]

You do it first, anywhere you want. Bet I won't even feel it.

[heelies]

[For such remarks his pride ripens in his chest and his brow furrows. Well does he know the strength packed into her sturdy limbs and the toughness of her flesh beneath skin that looks so soft, yet against such cool logic his burning pride is little tempered. His heart cries out in protest that he must test his strength against a woman, but these are the old ways that clog him and he must remember what he still is learning: he must regard her not as a woman but as a warrior. His jaw juts to meet this boast.]

Your taunts lash me to pour all of my power into my punch - the power that is mine by my deathless mother's blood. Then we shall see how you fare!

[So speaking, he pulls back his great fist and lunges forward, loosing his strike upon her shoulder. From the precision of his technique, it is evident that he has had practice in boxing, in which sport the Achaeans delight - even so, his strength and skill will meet a tough match against the brick wall of Ramir's body.]

[heavyhitter]

[ She'd hoped that might rile him up a little, and she's not disappointed. Honestly, this would be no fun if it was just little love taps. She'd thrown up her hands into the guard she's been practicing, squaring her stance — and braced like she is, then, she hardly yields. Her shoulder dips back a little under the strike, but her amused smile never wavers. ]

Wow, that might actually bruise. Maybe.

[ And, okay, it hurts a little. She's brawled with him before and come away stinging, but her form and her strength have since grown. Her smile curves a little wider. ]

You wanna go again, see if you can do any better? I'll give you two, since I'm just that nice.

[heelies]

[His knuckles sting, naked as the are, unwrapped in strips of cloth as is sporting, yet he does not rub at them; his fist only curls all the more tightly.]

Quit your tongue, lest you cleave it with your teeth while you hurl your boasts. Every punch I throw against you, I expect that you shall return to me in equal measure, nothing held back, if truly you count me among your friends. Should you unleash upon me any measure less than your fullest might, this I will take for a grave insult.

[His eyes are sharp upon her like a hawk in its perch as he shapes his stance once more.]

Come now - once more!

[So speaking, he releases a punch this time packed by his left arm, inside which tendons and muscles surge his godlike strength, and so her opposite shoulder shall suffer an equal blow.]

[heavyhitter]

[ It's amazing that she has the patience for his little pre-punch speech, but she does. Somehow. And she even listens. She's not pleased about the idea of using her full strength against him, she's not looking to seriously hurt him. But she's also sure he values his pride above his well being, so she may as well respect that.

There's healers around, anyway. It'll be fine.

She squares off when he finally readies and throws his second punch, and again her shoulder jerks back under the force of it. Which, honestly, she's come to regard as pretty impressive. There's a very, very small list of people that can move her when she's braced against it.

She grins through a pair of complaining, stinging shoulders, and drops her stance as she rolls each one. ]

Alright, not too bad. I guess the plant's gonna be happy with that. [ And looking smugly pleased, which is at least 75% just an act: ] My turn now, huh?

[heelies]

[An ordinary mortal would have taken to his knee for two fierce strikes such as those, yet well does he know that ordinary she is not. Thus he clenches his jaw and finds a pittance of pride for how he caused her to budge at all, for she is built no less sturdy than a stone-walled stronghold, peerless perhaps but for the wall that guards Troy, the masonry of the gods.]

You may hit where you like, daughter of Jolanda. Before your fist I shall not flinch.

[So speaking, he squares his stance and braces himself against what blow she may deliver: he expects from her force no less wild than that of a boar, in whose thick hide arrows are as thorns, and so onward it rages unmitigated.]

[heavyhitter]

[ If nothing else, she's pretty sure that much is true: Achilles isn't a flinching kind of guy. So with a huff of a laugh, she casts a quick look over him. Arm, she decides. Shoulder's got all those ligaments and shit, a lot of damage could happen there. But the worst am arm can do is break, right?

She pulls herself together tightly into the stance she's been learning and strikes in the next motion, smooth and fluid. It might not be the punch she'd throw in the heat of a real, passionate fight, but she doesn't check it, either. This is the punch she'd throw to break through a wall (and has, in fact).

He's strong, he can take it. And if not, hey, there's healers. ]

[heelies]

[It is fortunate, then, that he is built as sturdy as a wall: where the arm of an ordinary man might snap as would a branch beneath the force of Ramir's strike, Achilles' holds up. Nevertheless, he is thrown back like a sapling caught in the gales wrought by Zeus who marshals storm clouds, and it is only for his preternatural grace and fleetness of foot that he does not collapse to the floor. It is only for his brute stubbornness that he does not cradle his throbbing arm, throwing Ramir a grim grin instead.]

By the gods! There is a punch such that could win many fine prizes in the boxing ring!

[Already he braces himself once more, although his grin turns to a grimace.]

You shall have your second try - blow for blow, as we agreed.