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

[tinflower]

[ He doesn't move. He wants to with the light, but he's sticking in place, telling himself not to be a coward. If anything happens, then maybe he deserves it; he's had a voice lately telling him that, without the outside world to influence it. Even if it started because of its influence.

But a woman emerges--human, maybe, or human-shaped. Gorgug keeps where he is, hands in front of himself, doing nothing but showing they're up to nothing. He doesn't recognise her, but that doesn't mean anything. But, her face does, once he can make out her features. The sound of her voice, she sounds--frazzled, really. Put through more than she deserves.

And it's not because of him, he thinks. He tips his chin to look at her, wants to take comfort in her misplaced reassurance, though this isn't the time to focus on it; he looks around instead, realising... ]

...I was supposed to go back to the apartments. Uh. [ He thinks about that, but worries more about this, what's going on. Total mist is a thing that's new, but it doesn't make Gorgug feel any less wary as he looks black at her, his worry visible even with black sclera against white pupils. ]

We should both get out of here-- the last time things got spooky, everyone got, everything went bad. There was something out there--it wants to hurt everyone. Do you know what I mean? It can get inside you. It changes you.

[wundagores]

[from what she can tell through the little illumination from her own fraying grip on her magic, he looks as unsure as he sounds. and he shouldn't, wanda thinks — because he makes perfect sense.]

I felt it. That's what's out here now. [trying her best to maintain what eye contact she can, she nods, seriously. she tries, too, to keep that in her voice.] Whatever it is, it isn't friendly.

[as if for emphasis, the form becomes visible in the mist again, and, for a flash, the profile is even more familiar than it'd been before. wanda shakes — and whether it's the sight, or the effects of what's still moving through her, she doesn't know.

she scrunches her eyes shut, inhaling a long, slow breath, and taking even more time to let it out. as she does, the red glow from her hands begins to brighten and expand, solid even if she's still shivering.]

I'll take you back, and then I'm going to make it leave. [doesn't she sound oh so sure?] Follow me.

[she pivots on her heel and takes a step in the direction that she believes to be the one she'd come from, casting a glance over her shoulder to be sure that he does as she says.]

[tinflower]

[ She feels it? Gorgug doesn't doubt that she can feel it, that she's able to tell, because even non-magical people could sense its presence: it had been that unnerving, so prolific in its unnatural being. But that she says it so certainly, it does make Gorgug look up at her and then around, already becoming more on guard before the apparition makes it appearance, a blur through the mist.

He moves towards her, even though his initial step isn't that. He should be able to do something, but his mind is blank; he doesn't even have his axe on him, lost somewhere out in the planes or the forests of Etraya, wherever it ended up after the layout of the land reverted to its original state.

But maybe more alarming than being weapon-less or powerless is what the woman says--what she determines she's going to do. He's standing there to begin with, dumbfounded, but he does start walking to follow when she looks back, his mouth agape before he actually speaks. ]

Wait, what-- are you going after it alone? Do you know what it is? [ Oh no, oh no. ] Please don't tell me you're going after it alone.

[ Maybe she's not going alone? Maybe she's got friends? Or maybe Gorgug's got the distance from here to the apartments to convince her how bad "going at it alone" could be. He doesn't want anything to happen to her--especially when he knows how bad that can be. ]