epidemiology | EVENT ★ WINTER WONDERLAND

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EVENT ★ WINTER WONDERLAND

HOLIDAY PREPWORK

The sun might still be AWOL, but that doesn't mean it's time for a vacation! The goblin community seems even more motivated to get their holiday preparations together, working tirelessly to brighten up the grim atmosphere.

To that end, they've enlisted the help of the ALASTAIR recruits that've been bumming around. Characters that signed up will be invited or roped into the goblins' various holiday traditions and events. Though they may refuse or fail these tasks, for every one that isn't accomplished, characters will suffer one effect from the curses list for upsetting the holiday balance.

Note that those that didn't sign up can still help with tasks out of the goodness of their hearts, they just won't be assigned anything themselves or suffer any curses. Additionally, though PCs are magically bound to work with some partners, they may team up with others as well.

GREETINGS FROM LLOYD

ALASTAIR sends their holiday tidings! Some characters will find special deliveries addressed to them by name from the mysterious Lloyd of HR. The packaging might be messy and overtaped, and some of the gifts are less nice than others, but it's the thought that counts.

MISTLESNOW

The first snowfall of the year arrives, and though this may not bode well when there's no sun to melt it away, for now it's pristine and beautiful. Flurries and gentle snowstorms continue for days, blanketing all of Chantes and the outskirts.

With it comes a uniquely magical weed epidemic. Mistletoe grows off every surface it can, stems and shrubs of it creeping off of anything it can cling to, including trees, archways, lanterns and buildings. This parasitic plant is a notorious holiday tradition, but in Chantes it packs an extra punch: when two characters step under it together, they'll find themselves magically rooted in place. Mistletoe's spell can only be broken by a kiss, and while chaste exchanges usually work (kisses to the hand, butterfly or eskimo kisses, etc.), more stubborn weeds do exist.

This effect lasts until characters smooch or the weed dies from lack of sustenance, which could be anywhere between several hours to a full day. Mistletoe can be destroyed by a third party in a pinch, but be careful not to get stuck under the plant as well!

As an OOC note, feel free to be creative on the range and strength of the mistletoe, but please respect other players' boundaries! If you would like to break the mistletoe with a hearty handshake or have your character be immune, be our guest.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

All the hustle and bustle aside, the festivities themselves are peaceful and joyous -- and thanks to the ALASTAIR recruits, not punctuated with death or ominous Chimera motifs this time. A large bonfire continues all night with food and mulled wine aplenty. It's time to kick back, make some snow angels, and relax.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[A poorly-wrapped package arrived near the miller's house, where Hellboy had been staying in exchange for odd jobs. It was addressed to him, which was strange enough, but it was from someone named LLOYD, a name which meant nothing to Hellboy and aroused his suspicions even deeper.

The package's largeness and awkward shape wasn't that much of a bother for Hellboy, who picked it up and trotted off some distance away from houses, just in case there was something stupid inside that he needed to fight.

Of course, that's not what's inside at all: it's a kitchenette suitable for children, with real hinged doors but fake burners and a fake faucet, which is puzzling. Should he be insulted? He has no idea.

There's also a box of pancake mix, and Hellboy turns it over in his hands, frowning at the packaging as he stands next to the playset that gathers snow on top of its plastic countertops.] Weird.

[ This is all incredibly new to her. The season, the snow--magical, bountiful, so unspeakably cold--and, of course, the gifts. She isn't sure what to do with all of them, really. The sweater is self-explanatory; she's rather fond of it, in fact, and its hideousness flies right overhead. The gift from ALASTAIR is delivered to her by Ninat, in fact; the great cat finds it by the riverside and, as if on instinct, brings it to her lady.

The fishtail makes her grimace; the food, on the other hand, carries with it the pungent scent of the sea, and home.

She can't go too far into town for fear or being recognized, but she can't very well keep all this seaweed with her, so she endeavours to take it to Sieglinde at the apothecary for safekeeping. On the way, however--she's interrupted by a hulk of red. ]

Hellboy!

[ She hails him happily, eyes bright over the massive bushel of seaweed held in her arms like a bouquet. ]

[Of course snow would be strange to some people here. Hellboy is dimly aware of this, but he honestly hasn't put much thought into it. It's just snow. Spending a large chunk of his life in New England, he was used to it.

He hears the crunching snow of someone approaching, but only looks up when someone calls his name. His mouth curves up at the corners at the sight of Kida, though he quickly gives her a puzzled tilt of his head at the... plants... in her arms.]

That's... what is that? Kelp? Where did you get kelp?

[ Her grin is shining like Christmas lights. ]

Yes! Maga, sea-weed! I found it--[ she takes note of the package in his hands, and it makes her laugh. ]--probably where you found that, I would think. It is from a man named 'Lloyd'.

[ Lloyd, sent by ALASTAIR. She has no reason to question their employer's generosity: they gave her Ninat, and the scrying-glass that allowed her independant study. They want her to succeed, or so she surmises. ]

Would you like some? I can cook it for you!

[ It is possibly the only food item she can, in a setting like Chantes. ]

Maga, [he repeats a little artlessly, Kida's obvious excitement bringing his own grin back quickly. It's good to see that she's doing well after being stuck in that cell for weeks on end.

Hellboy lifts the box of pancake mix a little, tipping his head at it.] I thought maybe I was getting special treatment.

[Special birthday treatment!!!! Which is silly, so he just shakes his head and doesn't elaborate.]

How do you cook seaweed?

Ah, it depends on the variety--[ Of which she has many! they range in color from an oily almost-black to a dark red or blue. ]--but most can be soaked or boiled and then tossed, or fried...

[ She follows the shake of the box, eyes tracking the movement. ]

What is that? Your 'special treatment'. [ Her smile turns more fond, mainly because she's rarely seen him happy. ]

[The art of cooking seaweed has never really crossed Hellboy's mind. They put it in sushi and that's the extent of his knowledge -- but if this is of interest to Kida, it's of interest to him. It's probably just like a salad, anyway... a very salty salad...]

Huh? Oh. [He holds the box out, though he figures she probably didn't learn how to read these specific words yet --] It's pancake mix. Though I guess you might not know what pancakes are.

[They are literally his favorite food, that's what they are. Which explains the good mood he's in right now.]

[ She shifts the bushel of seaweed to one side to free up a hand, and takes the box from him; she's improving, and while the words remain strange she's still able to parse them. ]

I do not, but they look tasty. [ An idea strikes her, and she hands back the box. ] Seaweed pancakes!

[ She's so excited at the prospect. Atlantean food and surface food! ]

[Hellboy takes the box back, kind of staring a little when she suggests that. Because it's... well, it's a little outside of the box. So to speak.

But, you know --] Why the hell not?

[The severe line of his mouth curving up, he jerks his thumb over his shoulder at the kitchen play set.]

This thing is a toy, so we'll have to hunt down a real kitchen, for starters.

[ Why the hell not, indeed. Kida thinks on the request. ]

A family in the outskirts has been offering me shelter. [ All goblins like Kida, right now. Might as well enjoy it. ] We could possibly ask to use their kitchen.

[ If they'll harbour known fugitives, who knows, but given the sentiment around Chantes lately, and the loosening of the search, they're probably in the clear. Worse comes to worse, they can book it back to the outskirts with their food. ]

Edited (icon) 2016-01-02 09:06 (UTC)

[Hellboy's been staying with the miller, but he doesn't want to push his luck and ask to use the kitchen, so this works fine. The goblins are perfectly cordial to Hellboy, of course, but he gets the feeling his size is a little bit of an inconvenience to them.]

Okay. That sounds like a plan. [He motions to the seaweed with the pancake box.] You want to switch? I feel bad making you carry all that when all I got is this little thing.

Feel bad? [ She shrugs at the idea. ] It is seaweed, not clay! Here, have some.

[ She gets that he wants to be helpful, and splits the package in her arms to slip a bushel into his. This close, all the different varieties should be apparent: wakame, nori, sea grapes, dulse, rockweed, laver, kelp. There are varieties Kida is familiar with and many more she isn't, because they don't grown in the cold Atlantic. Still, she suspects, they can't all be that different. ]

Have you been keeping busy today?

[ As they walk away, she turns, eyeing the miller's house. Is that where Hellboy is staying? ]

[It's about quantity, not weight! Apparently. Shut up, let him be chivalrous. He is grateful Kida lets him pull his own weight (or quantity), though, and takes the bushel in his arms.

He is not a connoisseur of seaweeds, but seeing this many different kinds up close brings back a sudden wave of dark memories. Trapped at the bottom of the ocean, bound in chains made from the bone of a man who died hating him, the magic nail driven into his head -- the mermaids --

Kida asks a question and Hellboy shakes his head, clearing his throat.] More or less. I do some work for the miller, so nobody asked me to get busy with decorations. I guess they figured I have enough on my plate. What about you?

[ She watches him lose focus. He's done it more than once--appear to disconnect for a moment, only to return at the next sentence. She wonders where his thoughts go in those times, but says nothing. ]

I have been aiding in the repair of houses! [ This is a topic that she's enthusiastic about, even though her skills don't really allow her to 'help' significantly. ] As the cold sets in, many need small repairs done--to roofs or to windows.

[ Plenty are victims of human 'pranks' from before Graldia and her warriors started patrolling the grounds. ] Atlantean dwellings do not even have windows. I learn by the day!

[Only Kida would be so excited about windows of all things, and Hellboy chuckles softly. Everything here must be so new to her. The sky, windows, snow... pancakes.]

What kind of houses do you have in Atlantis? Or dwellings. [Tents? Seaweed igloos?] I guess you don't need to worry about insulation.

[ Her lips purse. ]

Decaying ones. [ It's said with some sadness, but mostly a straightforward honesty. ] Many are simply made of what remained after the mehbelmok. Because the temperature is--[ she motions around them, the wind and snow ]--constant, there is no need for windows, or even doors.

[ It's a small community. Theft is--not unheard of, but rare. ]

They tend to be of a rounder shape, marble or pale stone--sometimes if a wall needs tending we patch it with clay. It is difficult sometimes to tell where moss has ended and a house begun, but... [ Her lips curl up at the corners. ] It suits. The households of Atlantis are warm places.

[Hellboy is quiet, listening, and he tries to picture it. He doesn't want to use primitive to describe it, because from the way Kida describes her people, they're anything but. It's sad -- a civilization that was once so advanced fallen to ruin, unable to progress back to their glory days.

Every time Kida talks about Atlantis, he wants to help her even more. He has his problems with ALASTAIR, but being an agent of time may be the only way he can do anything for her.

He looks at her sidelong, mirroring the subdued way she's smiling.]

I think I'd like to see that. It doesn't sound like anywhere else in the world. [Nowhere that's still inhabited, anyway.]

[ She shrugs a bit. ] I would not know. I have not seen any of the surface world--I have seen Annwick, and Chantes.

[ But they're not her world. Maybe that's why her father wants to keep them below-ground, and why so few people make their way to the city. Maybe there isn't much left up there. Would it all look like Chantes? Kida has a hard time imagining it. ]

You told me you were an investigator, before. How did you come to that position?

I've been lots of places. All over. A lot of it is different from each other, but nothing probably nothing like Atlantis.

[Which makes sense. It's not a mythical lost city for nothing.

The change in topic seems a little abrupt to him, so he gives Kida a sidelong glance, but he's sure she has some reason for asking. He rolls his shoulder in a shrug.]

My father -- my adopted father, I mean. [He vaguely recalls telling her something about his flesh-and-blood father before, months ago, when he was drunk and talking too much. It seems like a thousand years ago now.] He did that for a living. I grew up around it, and, well... looking like I do, getting a normal job probably wasn't going to happen. So it was only natural I followed in his footsteps.

[ 'Looking like I do', he says, and it occurs to her that perhaps there's an entire dynamic hidden in his tone that she's only begun to scratch at. My blood father was... is. Something else.

She remembers. A Prince, he'd said, but not of what. Whatever species Hellboy was, he was not only out of the ordinary for his world, he was quite probably dangerous, and considered bizarre. It makes several things fall into place. ]

Would you have chosen it, if you had had the choice?

[ She knows not much about him, she realizes, which is partially why she's pressing the subject: wanting to delve past the surface, to see the true measure of the man beneath. She can talk of Atlantis all day, but it will teach her nothing new. ]

[Hellboy generally doesn't talk about himself unless prompted. A habit from his upbringing, surrounded by no-nonsense soldiers and an emotionally distant caretaker, or perhaps just something he's learned along the way. He never has a problem discussing the things he's done, but the things he feels...

He's quiet, shifting the seaweed in his arms, and thinks. Riza asked him the same question when they first met, and he still doesn't have a very good answer.]

I don't know. I never really considered anything else. [He cocks an eye at her.] It's hard to imagine your life as somebody else when you only know what it's like to be you.

[He's sure Kida, of all people, understands that. Princess of the last remaining bastion of the Golden People.]

[ She does understand it. But even if she hadn't been a princess she would have been a leader. She's curious, but not scholarly. She prefers actions to words. That is her nature. ]

But you would say you are curious by nature, yes? You enjoy seeking, discovering?

[ The house comes up, and Kida leads him through the back entrance, which drops them right into a warm kitchen--there's something bubbling on the stove already, presumably stew for supper. Kida dumps her seaweed on an empty counter space. ]

Let me take your coat.

[Curious? It's hard to say. About specific things, yes. About others, he doesn't even know anymore.]

I like problem solving. That usually involves curiosity to some degree -- though I'm just as happy solving problems without learning about them. [He means sometimes he'll just punch a thing instead of solving a puzzle. Whatever works.

Inside the house, Hellboy has to duck to fit in the doorway. The goblin houses are a little cramped for his tastes, but he manages. He deposits his bundle of seaweed (and the pancake mix) alongside Kida's, then carefully removes his coat. Small spaces plus giant stone hand are kind of a recipe for disaster if he doesn't pay attention.]

Careful. I have a lot of stuff in the pockets.

I know, I know.

[ Said with some humour, as she takes the coat from him and slides it onto the coat rack, next to her own layers--cloak, coat, scarf, mittens. Hellboy may be his own furnace, but the cold does nothing for Kida, truly. Whatever he has in his pockets, knick-knacks of wood or metal, make a gentle rattle as the fabric settles. Nothing broken.

In just her tunic this time, she pulls apart the bundle of seaweed, readying them for washing and cutting. ] You will have to explain to me--how this 'pancake' is made.

[Hellboy just hovers nearby, watching Kida prepare the seaweed. Like a little kid getting underfoot in the kitchen.]

Well... that depends. Can you digest milk? Eggs? [He doesn't know what the Atlantean diet is composed of, apart from fish and, apparently, various forms of seaweed. Luckily, though, Hellboy knows some tricks to make pancakes relatively dairy free -- his best friend, Abe, liked to stay away from milk products, so he long ago learned to adapt.]

closed to kida

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