EVENT | ALL HALLOWED

[cherrywood]

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..."

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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

Comments

[unetrustworthy]

[It wasn't hard. She knew the routine all too well, immediately turning on the wide eyes and hesitant smile at Bean's cue. Her feigned innocence was soon rewarded...by some candy, but no beads. Still, she thanked the merchant warmly before stepping back to see how Bean fared.]

[justlittle]

[He did just as well, some candy, no beads. He examines his haul then asks the shopkeeper,] Do you know of any merchants nearby giving out Earth Sector beads? We heard there would be...

[unetrustworthy]

[In return, the merchant simply smiled, lifting a finger and waving it teasingly.]

It wouldn't be much of a puzzle if I just gave away the answer like that. You'll have to figure that one out yourself, kids. Good luck.

[With that, he gave them a wave of farewell and closed the door behind them.]

[Once they were alone, Midii's face immediately faded back into its usual neutral tone, turning to Bean.]

The shopkeepers in Fire said the same thing.

[justlittle]

Well, we'll just have to keep looking. [He heads on to the next shop, kicking at pebbles on the way.]

[unetrustworthy]

[She makes it a few steps when a thought came to mind.]

Wait.

[Putting her bag down, she crouched low on the ground and pulled out a piece of paper. It looked like a map of Keelai, only with several notes written on it. She reached into another pocket and pulled out a small pen, marking something before looking up.]

He said it was a puzzle. Maybe there's a pattern that might tell us where we can find beads. Maybe even what kind of beads.

[justlittle]

Okay... [He'll play along.] Mark on the map where you got the Fire beads, and I'll mark where I got the Metal ones.

[unetrustworthy]

[It might have been nothing. There was a chance the shopkeeper had been messing with them, and she knew it. But it wouldn't take long, and it was enough of a possibility to explore that she figured it was worth the few minutes of downtime.]

[Her pen slowly marked off Six shops in the fire sector. Four of them offered beads. One of them had only given candy, but then, one of the Bead shops hadn't given any candy, either.]

And if you include the shop we just came from... [A small "c" for confiserie] ...okay, now you.

[justlittle]

[Bean marks off four shops in Metal with a little "P" for Perle (beads), then three more with a "B" for Bonbon (candy).]

[unetrustworthy]

[Obviously, she recognized the "n" for what it stood for right away; she knew of three words in french colloquial used for candy in her time. BonBon was what her littlest brother, Michel, used to call the treats she would bring home for him.]

That makes seven for you. None of them gave you both?

[justlittle]

This one did. [And he marks it with a "D" for "les deux".]

[unetrustworthy]

[With the last bit of information imputed, Midii leaned back and looked at the Map closely.]

...does that look like anything in particular to you?

[justlittle]

It looks like a face. With triangles for eyes, and a weird crooked mouth.

[unetrustworthy]

A face?

[She tilted her head, following the pattern Bean saw with her eyes more closely. It was no wonder she hadn't seen it herself; there were obviously several points missing. But if he was right...]

Could that be it? That would mean these places... [she motioned to the areas that were most heavily concentrated with Ps (beads)] ...are the ones we want to go to.

Too bad this won't tell us what kind of beads, though.

[justlittle]

Well, we'll just have to go to those shops and see for ourselves.

[He consulted the map, heading for a shop that looked to be in a P-heavy area.]

Here, they should have beads here.

[unetrustworthy]

[Her smiled brightened, though she barely even realized. She was hopeful. She was excited. As slim as the chance had originally been, they might have actually stumbled upon a real answer to this theoretical puzzle.]

Come on. We'll try the one across the street first. If we get a bead there, it'll show we're on the right track.

[justlittle]

Right. [He smiled to match hers as he headed across the street. As soon as they entered, the shopkeeper grinned at them and handed them each a delicate green bead. 'Be careful with these now, they're hand blown.' Bean put his in his bag along with his candy, then thanked the shopkeeper and made to leave the store.]

[unetrustworthy]

[Oh, she was pleased. Very pleased. Glancing down at the bead in question, she almost made to follow Bean in leaving when she though of something.]

You wouldn't happen to have some string handy, Mister, would you? You said yourself the beads are very special. Carrying them on a string would be much easier.

[justlittle]

Oh, good idea, Midii! [Bean turned back to the shopkeeper in anticipation. 'You're in luck,' the kedan said, 'I have some wire here you can use.' And he handed them a length of copper wire which would be perfect for stringing their beads on.]

[unetrustworthy]

[Not exactly as comfortable as string, but beggars couldn't be choosers.]

[She accepted the wire graciously, twisting it roughly in the middle until it snapped in two. The second half, she passed over to Bean. The one for herself, she immediately began stringing the beads she already had, tying a large knot around the end so they wouldn't fall off, and stringing it around her belt loop for safe carrying.]

[justlittle]

[Bean accepted his half of the wire and strung his beads onto it. He then twisted it around his wrist like a bracelet.] Let's see, we have Fire, Metal, and Earth beads now. Shall we hit Water next?

[unetrustworthy]

If that's the next sector, then sure.

[She casually strolls along, passing by the occasional group of kedan children also weiding buckets and bags and strange costumes. Her map is out again, and she follows an invisible line up to a certain area that looked like it fit on the pattern they'd figured out.]

Which one? Here or here?

[justlittle]

Water, then Wood. Or Wood, then Water. Whichever order you want to do it in. [He doesn't particularly care, going in whichever direction fits the pattern on the map.]

[unetrustworthy]

Water then Wood makes the most sense.

[justlittle]

Water then Wood it is. [He leads the way over to the next area on the map that should give out beads, according to the pattern.]

[unetrustworthy]

[The further away they traveled, though, the trickier it was to accurately deduce which houses fell into the pattern. They weren't perfect shapes, after all, subjected to the whims of the original city layout.]

[The first house, in fact, turned out to be a bust; it was the place next door that produced the bead they were looking for. And a handful of candy as well, which she discreetly passed off to Bean...except for a few cups of what looked like peanut butter and chocolate. Those, she kept for herself.]