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.

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[ 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.]

[ She sorts them neatly, movements practised, into piles by type. She'll have to pare the stems from some of these. ]

I can, just not too much.

[ It's sweet of him to think of it--it's likely she'll always be sensitive to things far removed from her home diet, but moderation helps. ]

Get me a knife.

[ She motions to the cupboard. ]

[That's Hellboy for you -- sweetly considering your potential gastrointestinal distress.]

You should be okay, then. We'll just use water. [Milk is superior, but, you know. Compromise.

Once Hellboy finds the knife, he hands it over, watching Kida go to work.]

I figured a princess wouldn't need to know how to cook.

[ Not for the first time, Kida wonders what these fabled surface-world princesses do all day that they can't--do anything else. She doesn't even need to concentrate; the knife in her hand makes a precise series of chak sounds against the cutting board, sliding up and down like a guillotine. ]

Food is becoming scarce in Atlantis. Our technology begins to fail us. A thousand years ago, our streets were lit; now, it is more difficult than ever for us to grow anything but mushrooms or water-loving grain.

[ She speaks with a detachment, but the tight line of her shoulders betrays how unhappy it makes her. ]

We survive. [ But not much else. ]

[Hellboy watches Kida's hands, how comfortable she is with the knife. There's something very domestic about this scene, something that makes him feel very close to her. Their shared connection to the Golden People has made him feel connected to her from the start, on some primal level he can't really express, but this is closeness in a different way.

He's quiet when she speaks, feeling a little dumb now for talking about Atlantis like it would be a great place for him to visit just minutes ago. Is she ashamed of how fall her people have fallen since their glory days? He knows she hasn't lost hope, just from how passionately she can speak about her home, but when she speaks like this, it's hard not to wonder.]

Hey. [He steps a little closer, his flesh hand searching for something in one of the pouches on his belt. She took his coat, but he carries some things closer to his person.] There's something I wanted to give you...

[He finds it, eventually, and holds it out: a coin-sized medallion. It's silver, with an engraving of a bearded man reading a book. Below him are inscribed the words ST. JEROME.]

[ She pauses in her work to look at him, as soon as he steps into her space. He's so drawn-off, usually, that the gesture strikes her as uncommon, drawing her attention.

He pulls out the token in the same gesture she puts down her knife, and her eyes hover between his hand and his face for a second before she reaches out to take it, with the same care it's been presented to her. Runs her fingers over the metal, brings it up to her face to read. ]

S...T... [ She actually reads the letters out loud, not sure why they're wedged together. ] Je-row-muh...

[ She's reading it phonetically, before she realizes. ] Is this a name? The name of the man here?

[Hellboy watches Kida study it, preparing to read it aloud for her and to explain its significance. He's not really sure if they have devotional medals in Atlantis, since he doesn't really recall Kida talking about their religion before. But he hadn't really been expecting her to read it herself, and he blinks in surprise.]

Er... yeah. I mean -- yes. Jermone. Saint Jerome. [He leans in a bit so he can point out some of the details on the engraving, the thin circle behind the man's head.] In my faith, men and women who do lots of good in their lives are called saints.

[ She understands what a saint is, or at least she speaks Latin well enough to know the word. Hellboy curves over her to show her things, though, and she says nothing. ]

So 'S' and 'T' together means 'saint'. [ She's going to encounter streets one day and it won't go well, but Hellboy doesn't need to worry about that now. Her expression is soft as she gazes down at the medal, then up at his face. ] Tell me about your faith. This Saint Jerome, do you pray to him?

Right. It's an abbreviation. [He's not sure if she's covered this yet in her lessons -- in which she's obviously progressing way more quickly than Hellboy anticipated. He should probably give her more credit, and makes a mental note to teach her more advanced Lemurian.

Hellboy looks up at Kida when he feels her gaze shift, then nods down at the medal.] Not exactly. We pray to saints to intervene on our behalf. They're sort of an intermediary between us and God.

[ An intermediary... ]

And they have different properties? [ She understands, at least, the idea of gods and demi-gods and heavenly messengers, so really, this is similar. ] What might one ask of Saint Jerome? Will he bring me luck?

['Different properties,' like they're Pokemon. Not that Hellboy knows what a Pokemon is.]

Saints have different patronages, yeah. Different professions and peoples they can intercede for. [He gestures now toward the book that the engraved figure is reading.] He was a translator and a historian when he was alive. That's his area.

A translator and historian... [ She smiles. ] Thank you. I shall hope he looks favourably upon my studies.

[ It's a thoughtful gift, and Kida turns it over in her hands a few more times, feeling the metal grow warm. ]

I should find something to lace this with--it is meant to be worn, yes? As a pendant?

[ She probably won't wear a second piece of jewelry around her neck, but a bracelet... ]

[Hellboy just takes a moment to bask in Kida's smile, pleased that she understands what he's getting at. Whenever he's worried there might be some kind of cultural barrier between them, Kida surprises him again and again with her intelligence and reasoning.]

You can. [The medal has a little loop at the top for that purpose, anyway. Hellboy gestures at his coat hanging on the wall, his mouth twitching up a little.] I keep things like that in my pockets, though.

[ She's sheltered, not necessarily ignorant. She speaks all the languages humans have invented. She can make connections. ]

Pockets... [ Her usual tunic doesn't have any, but her coat does, so she moves over to it, slipping the medal inside the breast pocket. ] There. I shall not lose it.

[Pockets would probably be a useful thing for Kida to wear. Hellboy wonders, distantly, if ALASTAIR just isn't the type of organization that uses uniforms. The BPRD became more lax about that sort of thing over the years, anyway.

He watches her put the medal away, feeling thankful he's finally found the right time to pass it on to her. It's personal to him, and he's glad to share it with his closest friend here.]

There you go.

[ She turns back to her workstation, still smiling from the gift. It's sweet. He's sweet. She can't say she doesn't like the attention, or the favour. ]

Now--you must show me how to make this 'pancake' of yours! Fetch your water and your eggs.

[ She motions to the chopping board, where her seaweed is pretty much done but he has nothing to show yet. ]

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EVENT ★ WINTER WONDERLAND

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