tushanshu_logs | EVENT | ALL HALLOWED

EVENT | ALL HALLOWED

Characters: Everyone!
Date: Oct 27th - Nov 2nd
Location: The City of Keeliai
Situation: The kedan have decided to participate in an Earth tradition: Hallowe'en! But there are other mysterious things afoot this holiday and when people start disappearing they'll have to find a way to reverse the effect... though all of their selves might not make it back.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

As the weather turns crisper, the nights and mornings carry with them a hint of chill promising cooler days to come, the month starts drawing to a close. This is a pleasant time, soon to be the season of harvest even on such a nomad as Tu Vishan. Yet the relations with the kedan have been good lately and even the Emperor's latest warning has not dampened the resilience of her people (both willing citizens and not) and so today marks a new tradition to Keeliai and it starts with receiving a simple, handwritten invitation.

"Come and celebrate the Keeliai of ages past..."

OOC: See the OOC plotting post for event details and this post for assorted subheaders outlining various parts of the plot. Feel free to start your own thread header if none suit, or make your own logs for various threadings... this is just for a central post for the event. Any questions can be directed HERE. Thank you!

NOTE: NPC tagging will be mostly in the Palace Rewards and Touch of Memory threads unless specifically requested elsewhere! Normal rules for players writing NPC interactions remains the same as always.

MID PLOT UPDATE!
Through the course of investigations will be discovered that every Foreigner who went trick or treating has acquired themselves at least one pot of what appears to be iridescent paint, sometimes more than one. Experimenting with these pots (because lbr who doesn't want a few randomly shimmery possessions) oddly enough lets ghosted characters interact with them completely solidly. Which, if you've inadvertently been ignoring someone, might mean you get your new shiny lamp thrown at your head.

Now if people get the smart idea to the paint the paint, that would let ghosted characters get hold of this stuff themselves...

TL;DR - Ghosted characters can paint themselves back into phase. ~~Eating the stuff is also acceptable.~~

I. GIVE A LITTLE, GET A LITTLE!
Trick or Treating (All Sectors) | Palace Rewards

II. SHADOWS AND SHADES
Tangible: Kedan Museum | Disappearances | Investigations
Ghosted: Sense of Loss | Touch of Memory | Shift of Perception | Poltergeisting

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Upon collecting a bead from every Sector, trick or treaters are directed to visit the Palace to receive a reward. In a small antechamber just inside the entrance, a covered table has been set up and Evandau is stationed there along with a petite kedan woman who smiles at those who approach to let them know they're at the right spot. "Congratulations," she enthuses when they present their findings. "You've done very well! Did you enjoy the collecting game? Don't mind our Alderwood Commander's expression there, he's just a little sore at having drawn this duty..."

Milyn. Kedan. Fascinated with the Foreigners, but who was not? The Hazelwood Merchant sought to pave the road with gold for them and others demonstrated such glee that he could not tolerate them for their ignorance of the purpose. Mayhaps they craved inspiration for their everchanging forms -- true as it is that he sees many kedan emulating the Foreigner forms -- or a remnant of their damage. Or... something strange he does not understand.

Much as he does not understand the purpose of this. Evandau knows his duty is to ensure the security of the palace and so he stands at the palace gates to serve such duty, but why? Trinkets. Toys. Idle curiosities that the Foreigners have done little to earn, but Milyn spoke with such conviction that her request came to be. Odd as it is.

And so he stands -- rather, stiffly arranges a simple table and a set of crates, bare and simple according to his tastes. The Foreigners will come later, or so he was briefed, and offer tokens for a prize. It has something to do with a holiday, he supposes, and that darkens his mood a shade. It has infiltrated Life and here they are, playing the role of children for the sake of some strange Foreigner obsession.

"--and they do this every year," Milyn chatters on, smoothing the cloth over the table and tugging it just so to one side so that it looks presentable. To a casual observer it would seem almost as though she's oblivious to Evandau's distaste but the way she seems to want everything precise suggests she's not quite as absentminded as she might appear.

"Right from when they're children and onward," she continues brightly, gesturing at him as though to emphasize how extraordinary it was. "And there's not even a set time when they stop, from what I understand. They just keep on with it, free food and trinkets! Just for the sake of getting them! It's all delightfully shameless, don't you think?"

"Painfully shameless," he deadpans, straightening his uniform with a quick tug. Evandau avoids obviously bungling this critical layout by shifting the crates closer instead, eyes passing over the trinkets, envelopes, and paraphernalia gathered to... give away.

What a foolish concept.

"Useless. What fool soul created such a waste of..." Time? Food? Time? "Such a waste."

The woman waves one hand as though physically trying to brush away his indifference. "Just think of it as an opportunity to learn," Milyn answered. "Knowledge is never a waste! If they're going to be here anyway then we should make the most of what they bring with them."

She looks him up and down in his prim uniform. "You're not going to glare at them, are you?"

Evandau crosses his arms over his chest, the look on offer to Milyn a perfect imitation of the one she doesn't want him to give. "There are three Foreigners that have proven some worth in person and action," he stats flatly. "Those, perhaps. I will not pretend for the others, not even to... learn."

That was a larger number than Milyn had expected from him and so her expression turns, if possible, even more sunny as she leans forward. "Three? What exemplary honour they probably don't even know they have. Will you point them out to me if they visit?"

Then she sits back, tapping a finger to her chin at the glare he was leveling in her direction. "No, that won't do at all. Perhaps we can find you a hat, that might mitigate the effect somewhat."

And his, in turn, darkens as he instinctively leans back. Decades upon decades of experience quiet the urge to reach for his sword, seeing no malice in the brightness of her expression. "You'll know," is his final say to that matter, for there is a far more grave one at hand.

"No." No hats. No smiles. "I am here to serve as security. You are here to engage the Foreigners in this... game. Do not drag me into the frivolities."

"Cultural involvement," she corrects with a chiding sigh, though she knows better than to press for details regarding Evandau's choice of preferred Foreigners. If anything, the game will be seeing which of them has caught the stoic Commander's eye and for what reasons.

"Though I do appreciate your ever watchful eye," Milyn seems determined to smile for both of them. "I certainly didn't expect such prodigious company when I made the request."

"My officers are otherwise engaged," is his reply, vague and distracted as he glances in the direction of Keeliai proper. There is a full scale investigation underway, though it is far from the point where he can share details.

Milyn, however, demonstrates a particular level of curiosity that most kedan have yet to recover, so he decides it better to change the subject to something that might appropriately distract her.

"Explain to me again how treats and games represent 'culture' to these Foreigners," he prompts, standing at ease.

"Because they're so social about it!" the kedan woman seemed happy enough to elaborate on her theories. "Some of them even plan it for months, I've discovered. All for a few hours looking different than their usual selves. It really does remark a great deal on how trapped they must feel in their own bodies, not having the capability of change as kedan do. It's practically criminal, being only able to change as they age."

"It makes identification easier," he returns flatly, mentioning one trait about the Foreigners that he can appreciate. "Wrinkles and grey hair are marks to find them by." Then again, being not of a shapeshifting race himself, Evandau does not share that fascinating curiosity about those that are all too like himself.

"Such obsession," he adds in a mutter. "Why not simply use the effort to discover some truly scientific way to change?" As he suspects the kedan race did, once upon a time.

"The progression of learning takes many forms," Milyn replied simply, though with quite the gleam in her eye. "It never hurts to have a fresh take on things, it can't all be charts and reports. You certainly couldn't police the city if you never went out to patrol, after all."

The point she has is not one he wants to admit, nor that he prefers the patrol to the reports. Necessity is the root of his rank, not burning desire. "You are as odd as they are," he says after a moment, not sure how quite to handle her enthusiasm and endless answers about their behaviour.

"Why Commander," she replied archly. "I didn't know I was getting sweet endearments as part of your company today."

She patted her hair as though to vainly check its neatness before dropping her hand to the table, looking out towards the entrance. "But I suppose that I am," she added. "Odd, that is."

The reply confirms his suspicions about her oddity, though it segues into a less jovial reflection there. Most of what he knows of Milyn is peripheral -- an acquaintance of Lieuen and a favourably skilled (recovered, perhaps) kedan of her own right, but most reports state her to be... cheerful. Irritatingly so, by her demonstration here, yet there is that break in cheer to make that admission.

"Because you don't hate them," is his assessment. Evandau does not much ask questions outside of interrogations, simply states what he sees. "When the rest of the kedan hated them, you still found interest in them."

"Hate and interest aren't mutually exclusive," Milyn responds, though her tone makes it clear she's not disagreeing with Evandau's observation in reference to herself. And it was true, she didn't hate the Foreigners or resent their presence. On the contrary she found them quite exciting.

"I just really think they're marvelous."

Yet when she tried to share her enthusiasm with other kedan she was often met with very lackluster reactions. Disapproval, in her eyes, was preferable to disinterest.

"They're useful," Evandau clarifies, a reference to their purpose her. "Some are resilient and others defiant, but they are here to serve a purpose." He looks at her -- it's not an odd look, per se, but it's a near thing. Well, as near as his expressions ever get. "That purpose is not to marvel you."

"I'm aware of why they were brought here," Milyn said laughingly, though her glance at him was not entirely lighthearted. Her demeanor aside, she knew as well as anyone what was actually as stake here.

"I just think a life comprised entirely of duty is something of a waste," she added. "A little too taciturn of an existence, you know. No spark at all."

"I'll keep that in mind," is his dry response. Though he won't. Evandau doesn't imagine his life without this conflict and knows it will claim him before peace happens. In the interim, having a 'spark' is the least of his concerns.

"Your first customer," he notes with a nod to a young woman approaching. "Go. Marvel."

Evandau is spared any more of Milyn's incessant whittling at his life and choices as the kedan woman reorients on the approaching Foreigner, all sunshine and smiles.

"Congratulations! You've done very well, here's your prize..."

Prior to discovering Loki's disappearance-- and everyone else's-- Willow had been quite industrious with her trick or treating. She didn't have anyone to go with, and homesickness compelled her to keep herself busy, so when she'd seen the colored beads being handed out she'd made her way through each sector to collect them.

She's still in costume when she arrives at the palace, though it's an illusion she's cast over herself in lieu of commissioning one to be made. She appears to be wearing wide black skirts, an emerald green corset bodice, and a jaunty pointed witch's hat. Her loot is carried in a basket in her arms, and the whole effect with her long red hair looks surprisingly natural on her.

Willow smiles automatically in response to the kedan woman. "It was kinda fun," she admits. "It's been a while since I went trick or treating. Oh-- um, here's the beads." She digs out a small drawstring pouch she's been keeping them in from her basket and offers it out.

Milyn smiles brightly, folding her hands together and offering a sort of half-bow as though in formal greeting. "I'm so glad you're enjoying it," she said; she has a very upbeat demeanour, lacking the ambivalence sometimes portrayed by many local kedan.

She takes the drawstring pouch and carefully shakes out the beads. Upon finding one from each sector, she nods approvingly. "I hope it was at least a little bit of a challenge," she added.

The comment of 'challenge' earns a derisive snort from one disgruntled commander. Pay no attention to the man behind the frown, he's just a wet blanket.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT | ALL HALLOWED

Palace Rewards

Closed: Evandau & Milyn | Preparation

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