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

It is most serious indeed!

[Why would someone even place this sort of trap about? And why here? Was it like that time when the new recruits arrived, and the rules of the world were temporarily suspended in some places due to the influence of the faerie slime? She couldn't be sure yet, but her brow began to furrow in concern as his snow exploration failed to turn up any sign of runes or sigils.]

- maybe it is a tighter circle?

[She pointed this time much closer to the immediate area around her tiny boots, hidden in the powdery snow.]

Good point! [He pokes at his chin in thought.] It's really hard to make a perfect circle, especially when it's big!

[So he shuffles closer, ready to move some more snow around...

...until he finds his own little legs unable to move.]

Wh-what?!

[Confound it- !]

You're caught as well?

[Sieglinde couldn't bend down to investigate herself, and no matter how much she tugged at her feet they wouldn't move. Her expression grew more and more frustrated at the futility of her attempts, but all it did was make her face red.]

[He nods and frowns as he looks at her, feeling like he really let her down. And he assumed that he must be the target of her frustration, so that didn't help him.]

I'm - I'm so sorry! I didn't think I'd get caught too...

[Then he notices how red her face is.]

Are you feeling okay?

[She didn't hold him accountable, but she had never been very good at explaining herself. Her cheeks puffed out as she gave a last struggle before finally letting out a frustrated noise, crouching as best she could in a flurry of skirts and coat, shivering.]

My legs hurt and we are now both trapped in this spell's influence.

[She felt horribly childish to complain, but she hadn't stood this long by herself in weeks.]

[He's sad to see her in this much trouble and frowns as he keeps trying to look around.]

I'm sorry... I'll figure a way out, really! We can do this-!

[Then his eyes widen as he looks up and finally sees it.]

Mistletoe?!

Perhaps another passerby with some magical knowledge may-

[His reaction to the plant made her pull her head up to look, though, brow furrowing in confusion.]

Yes... ?

[Beyond her desire to use it in a remedy later, she hadn't thought much of it...]

[His cheeks glow a little red as it comes to him. He couldn't find any signs of magical symbols in the snow, and it's hanging right above him. And... mistletoes are for... gulp.]

You see it too, right? [He nervously nods and frowns lightly as Sieglinde looks up towards it. He assumes she must know about it, too.]

What if... that's what's making this happen? [It seems like something that could happen in a tv show. But somehow, the sorts of things that only happen in tv wind up happening in his life all the time!]

[That... wasn't a poor theory.

Sieglinde looked up at the mistletoe more critically, unaware of its more... kiss-related properties. Thinking of it logically, though, it might be a valid point of investigation.]

It could be the anchor to the spell, you're right...

[Steven considers Sieglinde to be one of the smartest people he knows. So if she thinks it's possible, it definitely must be!]

Right! It- it makes sense, doesn't it? It's right up above us. And... If it's a spell, then, um, maybe breaking it...

[He gulps nervously and blushes slightly as he looks up at the mistletoe.]

...might be by - you know. Doing the thing you're supposed to do under mistletoes.

[How to break a spell anchored in a parasitic sprig of mistletoe... Sieglinde gave that some thought, putting a hand to chin as she considered what to do if the trick was to be related to the plant itself...

Oh!]

But where will we acquire two white bulls?

[He's snapped out of his nervousness just by how purely unexpected that answer was. He looks at her with a look of utter confusion and blinks uncertainly.]

White... bulls? [He's only seen Red Bulls.] Wait, why would we need them?

[Looking back at Steven was an equally confused face.]

To... sacrifice them?

S-sacrifices?! [He waves his hands anxiously.]

Noo! Too far back, too far back! [Steven doesn't want to sacrifice anything! But he supposes he's glad that at least he doesn't have to kiss them.]

I'm thinking about a different tradition. You know... The- the kissy one!

[Too... far back?

Kissing?

None of that made any sense in connection with mistletoe in Sieglinde's mind, which only made her look... at him like he was insane.]

- What tradition is that?

Um... Well, you know! When two people meet under the mistletoe, they gotta kiss!

...

...It's a real tradition, I swear!

I have never heard of such a thing!

[And she's heard of tons of things! ... Maybe it was a tradition of the outside world? But she'd recently told they weren't all lust-addled beasts??]

Are you attempting to take advantage?

[He waves his hands in denial.]

No! I don't want to take any advantages. I just want us both to be free! But... We might have to give the mistletoe what it wants to break this spell!

[ASKANCE.]

I will not bow to the whims of a plant- particularly if it is a perverse one!

R-right! That's a bad idea, right?

[He points a scolding finger up at the mistletoe.]

You hear that, Mistletoe? We're not bowing to your whims!

Who is it that's bowing to your whims, you ask? The answer is... um... not these guys!

[He gestures towards both of them.]

Exactly.

[Not these guys.

Instead, Sieglinde struggles with trying to move once more for a brief moment before giving up again, rummaging through her pockets and pulling out a variety of items- a jar of antler velvet... a half-eaten fruit bar... her workshop key...]

- do you have anything on your person that could reach the mistil?

Iiii...

[He digs out his own pockets, but there's just empty candy wrappers and an apartment key.]

....I got nothing. [Steven shrugs sheepishly.]

Unless I try throwing one of these things at it? Ooh, or I could try to make a bubble!

[Gosh darnit why didn't either of think to bring extendable shears...]

- how do you propose to make a bubble out of those items?

[Actually, wait- she pinches the bridge of her nose, waving off the question.]

A bubble wouldn't even help-

[That might have succeeded, if through shear coincidence.]

No no, like this!

[He focuses for a moment, a glow coming from where his belly button should be under his shirt, and he forms a pink bubble around them.]

[...

Woah. Sieglinde blinks slowly, then rapidly, gaze flicking between his belly button and the bubble before she reaches out to touch it.]

You can cast a barrier spell?

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