epidemiology | EVENT ★ WINTER WONDERLAND, THE RECKONING

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EVENT ★ WINTER WONDERLAND, THE RECKONING

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!

MirrorBowler

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( unlike Sieglinde, he's been making utmost attempts to avoid the mistletoe. getting trapped under it last year hadn't been so bad. a different time with a different savior, it was a moment he still remembered fondly. kissing a stranger would likely not please him quite so much, and being magically propelled to do anything is rather distasteful, as far as he's concerned.

still, trapped they are, and as far as he can tell, not by the same enchantment that had trapped him the last time. he sighs. ) Do you know how we get out from under this wretched plant?

[For Sieglinde's part, she is not displeased at all- well, about anything but her inability to find the mistletoe that actually worked like the one in Chantes.

Besides, Graham was on the top of her list when it came to... normal humans. And maybe this was the one?]

I have not seen this type before-

[Her look gets just a bit too mischievous, perhaps, a finger to her lip in thought.]

Shall we attempt a kiss?

( all right, leading it for the b squad!!! high fives all around!

at this point of knowing Sieglinde, he knows what to expect of her. and what he generally expects of her is exactly this. from the bondage play comments and mentioning she's free for the taking on a beach, he's actually kind of used to it, which is a bit sad.

he hasn't seen this brand of mistletoe, either, which means it's not the variety that requires them to kiss. ) I've seen the plant that requires a kiss, that isn't it. We'll have to try something else.

( nice ty though. )

[Well, that was disappointing quite early on. Sieglinde didn't bother hiding the sigh and sag in her posture. If she didn't already know Graham wasn't the type to lie, she might suspect something, but.]

Oh, well. That is for the best of course, for a maiden such as myself.

[Totally pure and untouched, of course!]

Have you seen any lewder ones, then? We must not rule anything out...

( he will continue to be a disappointment like this for the rest of ya life Sieg. or at least for as long as you both are a part of Audentes. either way, that's a lot of disappointment. )

I'm sure it is. ( he seems to genuinely mean that. Sieglinde is still a young girl, for all the pretensions to the contrary. he has no fond memories of his sexual initiation, she honestly is better of waiting until she is older. and then some. how do you feel about never, though, Sieg, because he's cool with that number too. )

I'm afraid this is the first I've run into. All I know is that it isn't mistletoe proper. Shall we — a hug, perhaps? ( oddly enough, for all the times he's carried her, he cannot recall ever showing her such simple affection like a hug. Sieglinde seemed less inclined to it than Sakura, yet it felt odd all the same. )

[Considering she hopes to live a long life... that is far too much disappointment.]

An... embrace? Mistletoe usually involves mouths...

[It's not that she was adverse in any way to hugging the man, it just... didn't seem quite right to do so in such awkward circumstance, suddenly looking slightly uncomfortable... weirdly enough more over embracing than the more lewd things she'd proposed earlier.

Instead, she extends her hand.]

Let us try a kiss.

[If it wasn't on the lips surely Graham could not protest...]

( she did seem a bit more uncertain about the concept of an embrace than a kiss with a man quite literally more than triple her age, thanks to all those unseen curse years. it's not exactly shocking that Sieglinde would rather insist on a kiss. frankly a kiss is the least horrible thing she's ever suggested in their time together, but he's still determined to circumvent it.

she offers a hand and he bends down. before she can get too excited, though, he picks her up. it's been a year now, he's gotten quite good at scooping her up. his arms are around her, so they're half there — it's up to her to close the link. )

Let's try this first, Sieglinde. If it doesn't work, perhaps your method will.

( it helps that he's 98% sure that a kiss won't do it, though he'll be in some hot water if a hug doesn't do the trick, now won't he... )

[He wouldn't even spring for a kiss on the hand? Sieglinde's expression grows somewhat cross, and when he picks her up, she puts her hand... in his face, pushing on his nose with the heel of her palm.]

... are you some sort of... embrace fetishist?

[She has to make sure first.]

( unbelievably, considering the manhandling (literally), he laughs at the palm pushing him away. it's a far-away sound, blink-and-you'll-miss-it — but there if she's not too annoyed by his refusal to notice.

the comment doesn't seem to find any amusement, though. )

I'm not sure such a thing exists. It's either that, or I'll find my brother to hug. ( if that's what gets them out of this dreadful plant, you'd better believe he will. )

You cannot move away to find him, so that is a silly claim...

[Still... she supposes it won't hurt, so. With a put upon sigh, as if she was really too sexual and mature a creature to need do such a vanilla activity as hugging, Sieglinde clinically puts her arms around Graham's shoulders.]

Here- are your bizarre requests satisfied?

[Geez, at least squeeze...]

( Brother is a wolf Sieg. he's got great hearing. and he comes at least 30% of the time when Graham whistles for him, so that's pretty good odds considering it's a wild animal he's calling.

her put-upon embrace does not really fulfill any of the positive qualities he's found them to involve usually. likely to do with how little she seems to want to offer it. the slight embrace is enough, though, to release whatever magic pinned them still. he takes a step from under the mistletoe, proof enough that his 'bizarre' request had worked after all, and yet she's not quite getting out of it that easily. )

Is it really so wretched? ( he doesn't sound hurt, for the record. that's being heartless for you, there's not a lot of feelings knocking around in the guy to actually be hurt. still, he's curious, as to why a hug should seem so terrible to her. is it simply who she was forced to embrace? or something worse? his interest is rather clinical, but there's interest all the same. )

[30%!!!

Sieglinde is hardly pleased that the world moves and he demonstrates that the spell is broken. To have it be undone by such a simple thing as an embrace... how very dull...

She actually sighs audibly, her chin digging in to his shoulder as she glared frustrated at the wall behind them.]

I do not appreciate having my hand forced.

[But she... still hadn't actually released him.]

( at least 30%!!! the true numbers could be higher on a good day!!

well, her words make a great deal of sense to him. he has never been keen to be forced into anything, but touch and affection especially. the mistletoe was cloaked in innocence, but it didn't detract from the reality that affection forced was hardly affection at all. it was due penance or a price to pay, tarnishing what should be something quite beautiful. he understands her perspective, quite well in fact.

he also notices quite well that she has not released him, either. )

And would you agree to an embrace without someone requiring it? ( again, not a reprimand or a rebuke, just curiosity. he likes hugs, as ridiculous as that sounds. he'd hug Sieglinde more given the opportunity, but she'd have to offer one first. )

Edited (who hit enter too fast? i hit enter too fast) 2017-01-22 06:23 (UTC)

[Graham, why must you ask such weird questions... she'll let it go, on account of the heartless and all, but her expression over his shoulder is quiet odd.]

I do not think people usually discuss embracing before doing it when it is a natural occurrence...

["Agree"...]

Is it natural? I've not seen you embrace anyone.

( it's fine, he will just be known as the weird uncle that discusses the semantics of hugs. he'd rather have permission than not, and if that requires advance discussion then by jove, he'll discuss the hell out of it. )

I have embraced plenty of-

[To protest the "accusation" is instinctive, but halfway through it seems she discovers for the first time that he's right. She... didn't really, did she? Masamune, of course, but he had been something like her closest caretaker since Chantes, like a brother... Gilgamesh, before his transfer, but that had been different, of course, and Kidagakesh had- no, perhaps she had been embraced in that instance, it wasn't quite the same...]

People...

[She finishes emptily, brow furrowing, frown coming soon after. Had she not embraced Graham before? It wasn't as if embraces were some definite proof of affection worth more than other trust, and besides, Wolfram had never needed-]

Wolfram-

[But even as she makes the connection, she doesn't realize she's said the name out loud.]

( someone with a bit more social awareness — anyone, basically, but the man currently involved in it — might have realized the awkwardness of levying such a debate when he had yet to put her back on the ground. still, was not holding her and carrying her rather natural for both of them now? if anything it made her resistance to touching him even more odd. she trusted him enough to be her legs and support, and yet an embrace was so foreign?

the name rings mildly familiar, and yet, not properly at the same time. he's heard her reference him, yet the details were lost in her thoughts, private little memories she held onto quite tightly. he watches her with vacant curiosity, silent for a moment as he tries to remember what, if anything, she's told him about this Wolfram. nothing really comes to mind. )

Wolfram? ( he knows that idle suggestion is not usually enough to make Sieglinde talk about anything, but hey. it's worth a shot. dumb questions were getting him places today. )

[Wolfram. Once upon a time he had been a constant in her world. The only man in her village, the Green Witch's manservant, the one who had broken her feet for binding in the ceremony that had made of her an adult, with duties and burdens and women who relied on her ability to work towards the Ultimate Magic in order to survive.

It had been Wolfram who'd woken her every morning, laid out her clothing, carried her where she needed to go each day, cooked her meals, tucked her in- the closest thing she'd had to a parent. Parts of Graham had always reminded her of him- and she'd said as much. But only that. Nothing about why, or what parts, because that was far too close to all the things she tried to hide. All the things she lied about.]

... I embraced him once.

[In the course of her life, of course, more than once. But those times had largely been in the vague early years of "childhood", before she'd inherited her title and been too old, too mature, too busy for things like hugs.]

Then he betrayed me.

[And then he betrayed those he'd betrayed her for, returned to her side, and what had that gotten him? Shot through the chest, and she'd tried her best to save him, managed to get the bullet out and cauterize the wound, but then she'd found herself here, and with an injury like that the next days would be crucial-]

... I do not know if he lives or not.

[And hugging Graham felt enough like hugging Wolfram for it to remind her of that, even as her hold on him tightens slightly.]

( betrayal is not something he's terribly familiar with. because it required more than deception to deceive, it required closeness and trust to be compromised intentionally. it was simply impossible to betray the huntsman, when he allowed no one close enough to try. Regina had always claimed he'd betrayed her, she viciously believed that to be so, and he suspects that was mounted on betrayals of others. making every deception feel the same.

with a damage like that, it would be easy for Wolfram to simply inspire bad memories. it seems that is not totally the case, as even in her unhappiness she holds a little closer. as always he feels quite out of his depth when dealing with the force of Sieglinde's emotions, even when she is so masterful at trying to hide them. someone else could do better by her, when she needed the support. he wishes he could fill those gaps that she needed. )

The not knowing is almost harder than the alternative. ( he's dealt with that kind of loss, actually, though his losses had been animal and not human. the wolves that had slowly disappeared from his pack had been his family, however, and no matter how his heart had grieved to find them dead, nothing was worse than tracking and tracking and tracking only to never find them. left wondering what their fate had been. )

I do not know this Wolfram and I suspect I never will, yet I hope you know I would never betray you. ( his loyalty is hard earned yet unshakeable once it has been. he may not agree with Sieglinde on occasion, he may not treat her the way she'd like to be treated more than she'd like. yet he is sincere in that promise, he would never betray her. )

It is not that.

[Perhaps she's a little bit too quick to say that, considering that she had never in her life imagined Wolfram would betray her- that any of them would. That the women who had bathed her and fed her and held her and played with her before she assumed her title would turn out to be willing to kill her without a thought.

She'd come into ALASTAIR determined to doubt, to protect herself, and be wary of trusting again... but it hadn't worked at all.

She struggles to put the unsure feeling into words, to spell out how she felt and why it didn't seem right somehow to her, staring listlessly out over his shoulder, nodding along. It was hard not to know. If she could just get a peek into that part of her world...

But it's not that at all.]

... But everyone I have embraced is dead, or... perhaps dead, you know.

[It was beginning to feel like a curse.]

( well not to argue semantics here but she is not improving her track record here. Graham remembers dying quite distinctly, he is hardly aware of how he's still kicking, he's just not inclined to argue with it. at last, even heartless, he's aware that there's no merit in mentioning that. she's got enough on her mind without that reminder. he's thoughtful in considering her words, as curses are a definite and valid fear in his world. could someone be cursed to harm everyone they love? he suspects its possible...

though in this case, he thinks it is simply more likely that the guilt makes her feel cursed, rather than a reality of one placed on her. )

Some curses are worth risking. ( if he dies for this hug, well at least he got a chance to show he cared about her first, before it happened. ) And I don't intend to be dead or perhaps dead anytime soon.

Very few people intend to be dead or perhaps dead any time soon.

[And just because Graham has died before... doesn't mean he can't again.

She knows it wasn't a true curse, no geas placed upon her... but it feels as it it were, even to a mind as rational as Sieglinde's could be. Feels sometimes as if everything could come crashing down upon her head with no warning- this small, precious life she had built for herself, with these few, precious people.

A hug wasn't worth dying for, was it? Worth courting disaster for?]

Aye, and me especially.

( he's died once, he's in no mood or mind to risk it again — despite the argument that he doesn't take care of himself as he should. still, since he has the perspective of someone that has already gone, he's determined to make the most of the second chance he's been granted. )

Even if you end up the right of it, it'll be worth it to me. ( he has only recently realized how much he likes a simple embrace, a quiet and understated yet undeniable expression of affection. he likes showing how he cares, and he'd like to show her, if she wants to accept it.

with that he puts her down, looking at her expectantly before opening his arms a little. an invitation to hug her properly, but only if she'll take it. a hug means much less if only one part of the party seemed inclined to have it. )

[She wishes for a moment that she was like other children. That she could be easily mollified by such assurances, but she knows all too well about betrayals and broken promises, both intentional and accidental.

Which leaves her put down, on her own two unbound feet, with a huntsman asking for a hug.

Sieglinde finds herself blushing suddenly, cheeks puffed out in embarrassment for some reason, feeling like there was a spotlight on her at that moment and that anyone and everyone could see them, (even though no one else was really paying attention).

Face scrunching up in an attempt not to frown- or was it not to smile?- she... steps forward.

And awkwardly hugs him.]

( awkward or not, it was freely given. given from a girl that rarely expressed such things, and that made it mean all the more to him. even without a heart, he was slowly proving himself capable of finding meaning if he looked for it. he could logically put together why the embrace meant so much to him, and perhaps it was deeper than that still. managing to register with a part of him removed, crushed at that.

whether Sieglinde realized exactly how much the gesture meant to him or not, he was grateful she had been willing to show it. his hand settles on her shoulder, holding her tighter for only a breath before he releases her.

see? hugging a huntsman is not so bad, Sieglinde. really. there's a smile on his face, too, though he's not really aware of it. )

Should we go back inside?

( he won't linger on the moment, not when it makes her embarrassed. he'll move on, almost as if it never happened... though it did, and he'll remember. even if she would prefer he not. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ★ WINTER WONDERLAND, THE RECKONING

U PICK

i want hugs

there's just so much happening in this tag that i can't handle lmao

lmfao graham this is ur burden

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