OCTOBER MINGLE

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: October 25th - Early November
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The arrival of newcomers, and some holiday fun!
NOTES\WARNINGS: Supernatural elements, temporary physical alterations, mild horror and jump scares, spooky scary skeleton robots, mild suggestion of compulsion or loss of control, mild body horror.

⏵ arrival ⏴ Welcome to Etraya! Everything is fine now. 😊 Arrival goes expected - or it does for the most part. Aurora greets newcomers in the hospital as they awaken, offers a brief explanation and gives them their earpiece so they can communicate with one another. Around the hospital and outside of it, Companion Bots are hard at work decorating the city for Halloween—complete with festive touches like pumpkins, cobwebs, and glowing ghost decorations. The atmosphere is fun, light-hearted, and maybe just a little spooky. 🎃👻 Some carry buckets of candy, and offer those they come across a trick or treat. Except both options are, in fact, treats. 🍬 Tricks are treats specifically wrapped in a green wrapper that very clearly declares that they are tricks. Treats are wrapped in orange, and labeled with treat! Companion bots will recommend that those who do want to take a trick take them when they're beside their friends. There won't be any permanent effects from these, nor will they be terrible tricks - just fun ones! All effects last roughly 24 hours. Giggle Drops cause uncontrollable giggling that bubbles up randomly, even during serious conversations. Beasty Bites cause characters to grow small fangs, and they will begin craving red foods - apples, cherries, etc. Bat Gummies cause small, bat-like shadows to follow characters around wherever they wander. These shadows are harmless, and super cute. Pumpkin Puff is a cotton-candy-like treat, that causes their voices to change dramatically. Either becoming significantly deeper or perhaps very high-pitched, as if they've recently inhaled helium. Floating Fudge gives characters the ability to float in the air! Just a few feet off the ground, but it's still fun. Right? ⏵ getting spooky! ⏴ Etraya is embracing the season - and maybe even going a little overboard. Around the hospital, a few small pop-up shops are manned by festively dressed companion bots. They offer samples to everyone - although sampling isn't really necessary. After all, everything here is free! Candy Shops: Perfect for stocking up on sweets and treats for the upcoming trick-or-treating event. These will not stock the tricks the companion bots offer around Etraya, but instead only carry harmless sweets. They do take custom requests, too, and are happy to create the treats others want! Costume Shops: Find the perfect costume for Halloween! But beware... rumor has it, if you wear a costume, you might become whatever you dressed up as for a few hours. Those who put on vampire costumes may find themselves suddenly craving blood and growing fangs - those with werewolf costumes may find themselves feeling a little wolfish. These effects may last a few hours, up to a few days. ⏵ masquerade ⏴ In the spirit of mystery, Etraya will be hosting a Masquerade Ball outside the hospital through the nights of October 26th and 27th. Dance anonymously with other attendees and make new friends under the cover of your disguise. Everyone receives a single rose they can exchange with someone else throughout the evening. At the stroke of midnight, the roses will reveal the true identities of your masked dance partners. 🌹 ⏵ all hallow's eve ⏴ On October 31st, multiple companion bots set up shop along one of the walkways through the larger island towards the center. With chairs and small booths set up, they offer candies out to trick-or-treaters who wander around through the first part of the night. Some of them will request trick-or-treaters to do a trick for them, to earn a bigger treat! They may ask characters to dance, sing, or show a talent unique to them. Can your character bend themselves into a pretzel? They want to see it, and will offer them a nice bracelet in exchange! Can they whistle super loud? Maybe they'll get a nice piece of kevlar armor after showing off. This can be anything within reason - bike parts, small weaponry, armor pieces, toys, canvases for painting. Please request these items HERE. Not everything is as light-hearted as it seems, however. Aurora issues a warning to the citizens of Etraya: Do not stay outside after midnight. Strange happenings have been reported, and those who disobey may start seeing visions of past loved ones. The visions are compelling—guiding people away from the safety of the buildings and into the mysterious mist surrounding the outskirts. But be careful, these spirits may not be as friendly as they seem. If you come into contact with these ghosts, you’ll feel a chilling cold, leading to hypothermia-like symptoms. The longer you’re exposed, the worse it gets. Treatment? You’ll need to be warmed up quickly. ⏵ skellys! ⏴ The Companion Bots wanted to join in on the fun, so they painted themselves with glow-in-the-dark paint to look like skeletons. But in the dead of night, for those already suffering from the chilling touch of the ghosts, seeing glowing skeletons approach from the darkness might not be the most comforting sight. 🤖💀 Stay safe, warm up, and enjoy the festivities! ⏵ NOTES ⏴ For all questions relating to this log, please refer to the mod queries comment. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[aimsforknees]

[ John just gives a sly smile at that. ]

It wouldn't be much of a masquerade party if I just gave you my name. Let's just say I'm here to have a good time.

[ And he has been. There's an easiness to his body tonight. ]

[bookofpowers]

It is a pretty okay party.

(if they're not going to give out names, the only thing that tells chrollo apart are the round earrings that sit at the bottom of his lobe. dropping the persona he has carefully crafted is not an option when he can be recognized at a later date, so...)

I don't go to these very often.

[aimsforknees]

[ John nods in agreement. ]

I go to parties for work sometimes, but this is my first masquerade party. Have you been to a masquerade party before?

[ He's not giving out his name, but trading information certainly is on the table. ]

[bookofpowers]

I have never... I am more of an indoors person.

(although if there are things he wants to put his hands on, he'll merrily dance and drink in a party as such. most likely has, even.)

What do you do?

[aimsforknees]

I help people out of difficult situations.

[ It's as close to an answer as he's ever been able to find. Sometimes that help is a new cover identity, sometimes the help is a bullet in the knee. Just depends on the day. ]

How about yourself?

[bookofpowers]

... So a police officer? Firefighter? Lawyer?

(that was too vague and he hates it. there are way too many things that fit that description.)

Scholar, nothing so big.

[aimsforknees]

[ It's impossible to describe what he does even to people who are actively in a situation where he's helping them. How does he explain it succinctly without giving too much away? ]

More like a concerned third party.

[ He remembers the day he first used that line. How he borrowed it from Harold. It's accurate enough. ]

What do you study?

[bookofpowers]

(without solid information, chrollo does not buy it the slightest bit. not that his expression shows it, with a gentle smile and some excitement over being asked what he studies - as an invested academic would when given the chance to explain something.)

It's hard to explain even to a person in my world! As you see, we are surrounded by an unexplored continent with some unexplained phenomena, so my job is to note what we find beyond the Known World. We were going on an expedition, but I ended up here...

(this just gives him something to talk about and distract people with, even if it has nothing to do with him in the end.)

[aimsforknees]

[ John is happy for the conversation to turn away from him, plus. That actually sounds interesting. ]

What kind of phenomena? It might not make sense to me but I'm interested to know more about places that aren't Earth.

[ It's genuine interest. John has always been curious about places other than his home. It was one of the perks of being an international spy. ]

[bookofpowers]

Ancient texts and ruins call them 'calamities', but the extent of it is not publicized. Our authorities prefer to keep it under wraps not to alarm the general population, so getting information about anything is a tough job, but for instance, cities had been attacked by a very aggressive and territorial foreign species of ants.

(which he knows due to them being right in his hometown. he heard from the troupe, heard from the elders, while he was busy creating his foolproof strategy against a certain nuisance of a man.

see? no one talks about themselves, everyone wins.)

[aimsforknees]

[ John can see how ants might be a problem. He's read about ones from Australia that can kill a man in fifteen minutes. He doesn't want to envision an invasion of such creatures on the scale of being a "calamity". ]

Learning more about danger is the first step to being able to stop it. I can understand not wanting to scare people, but ignoring the problem doesn't make it go away.

[ Of course, John has no idea what "ants" really means in this situation. ]

[bookofpowers]

It does not, but then again, we are in it. I suppose learning is the only thing we are able to do at the present moment.

(and apparently in the world view, bring back some of the riches that the dark continent has. whatever that may be. worth the risk?)

[aimsforknees]

What kind of expedition were you going on? Were you going to this "unexplored continent"?

[ It's small talk, but John is just here to gauge more about the people around him. Get a feeling of the climate of the populace here. Not every conversation needs to get at the heart of the problem. ]

[bookofpowers]

Yes, but I was brought here before. The Kakin empire built a rather sturdy ship for the expedition, so I was one of thousands set to go.

(half right, as we know.)

I was going to simply take notes of the findings and calamities we find, if there truly were any to witness.

[aimsforknees]

[ That seems... like an odd choice. An unexplored continent full of potential calamities and thousands of people were going? ]

That's a large group for an expedition to an unknown place. Not to mention a ship would have to be rather large to accommodate all those people.

[bookofpowers]

I don't really make the rules, you know...

(eh, a good chunk are nen-users. if anything, there's some fighting chance to be given.)

The ship is pretty large, though, and thought out well. We are far from the only expedition to have attempted, I believe. How about you? It's a give-and-take, you should tell me something as well.

[aimsforknees]

[ That is only fair. What's something he can provide that doesn't reveal too much but feels like a fair exchange? Certainly not the CIA, and he's loathe to explain the numbers. ]

I was in the Army for twelve years. Just a military man, I don't have any exciting tales.

[ He doesn't really think he'll get off that light, but talking about his Army career is a pretty safe topic. He can downplay that. ]

[bookofpowers]

Conflicting statements - are you not a battlefield soldier?

(but even then, even from the backlines, there must be something exciting and interesting to share.)

[aimsforknees]

[ Oh, John was a battlefield soldier. There's just— it's not glorious. There's nothing exciting about being shot at, about having the people around you die. About seeing the hope slowly fade from your comrades' eyes as they realize the war isn't going to end soon, or, maybe even never. He doesn't regret enlisting, but he doesn't like talking about it much. ]

I was, but the battlefield isn't exciting. A lot of patrols, a lot of hoping you don't step on a bomb, a lot of watching other people die.

[bookofpowers]

Who are you fighting against? What for?

(or he hopes those two things are well-established. fighting for fighting is not something uncommon, but to fight for survival is a whole different beast - one he can understand.)

[aimsforknees]

[ That's... a loaded question. Perhaps in some wars it would be simple, but it's just... not this one. It's not like this is WWII. ]

My country was attacked by terrorists and the government decided to invade in order to stop them from attacking again.

[ John's entire tone of voice and posture is communicating as much as possible that he doesn't want to talk about this. He doesn't. He really, really doesn't. ]