expiationlogs | MINGLE LOG: OCTOBER

TRICK OR TREAT

Aldrip locals are buzzing with excitement as the end of the month draws near. According to them, two beloved traditions are just around the corner: the gathering and the witch hunt!

Let's get started!

WE GATHER HERE

I. EVERYBODY MAKE A SCENE

Those who come from worlds with trick-or-treating will find that this sounds pretty familiar: dress in costume, get treats. Rather than going door-to-door, however, the locals have set up a whole line of booths in the bustling marketplace. Participating locations will have pumpkin-shaped lanterns over their stalls, and will hand out various items: candies are traditional, of course, but pastries, treats, and even savory foods may be available. Some booths may also offer drinks (alcoholic or not) or small trinkets like pins, stickers, or scarves.

What's the catch? You must be in costume, of course! Some Chosen may welcome this as a fun activity—costumes are available at Rin's Shop from now until the end of the month. A number of traditional costumes will be readily available, of course, but the Tresed locals who have taken over the shop also have some...let's call it "eclectic" original designs. They also take requests. And they seem even more excited than the Aldrip locals, if you can believe it. Some reluctant Chosen may find themselves bullied into participating, if they're not careful.

We leave these costumes entirely up to you: they could be generic costumes like "witch" or "ghost," or something from your character's world. The tailors currently operating Rin's shop are capable of making mostly anything.

At various points during the night, Chosen could discover that they've been either TRICKED or TREATED by participating in this tradition. Comment in the thread below if you'd like to participate, and we'll roll you a random effect.

A WITCH! A WITCH!

The Aldrip Witch Hunt is a symbolic tradition that, according to locals, goes back by countless generations. Local opinions seem to be mixed on whether there is a real witch to speak of: some claim that the Council has chosen someone to act as the witch every year since its inception. Others claim that it's all conceptual. Either way, with a small number of frightening fruits still on the loose, locals are willing to let the Chosen deal with any dangers.

Those intrepid Chosen who wish to seek out the witch are told to head into the forest, where small electric lanterns will show the way. These lanterns seem to be scattered across the forest, in some cases leading Chosen off course or off the beaten path. Some may end up lost in the woods. But some lanterns do seem to light the way to different locations. Visiting these locations may yield some…interesting results. If you’re interested in investigating these areas, leave a comment in the thread below to let us know which location(s) you visit, and we’ll roll something for you.

II. THE UNDERGROUND GROTTO

Following a stream in the woods eventually leads to a cave opening. The floor of the came is wet and a little slippery, so take care where you step. The cave is deep, and as explorers move through it, they're going at a gentle descent, the Chosen will uncover old cave paintings, faded and worn with age. Most of these are little more than marks upon the wall, but occasionally some may find images that look almost like worship, figures captivated by strange boxes, hands in the air as if in veneration.

Occasionally, items from other parts of Expiation can also be found. The odd tablet part, an old-looking shoe, a piece of rusted jewelry or a shell that looks like it belongs more on the beach…these don't seem like they should be here.

The Chosen who explore this cave ought to be wary of the time. As the tide comes in, water begins to slosh around their ankles, filling the bottom of the cave and rising quickly.

III. THE BUNKER

Those who took it upon themselves to investigate the strange chimera creatures from earlier in the month might have seen this weird little bunker before, but the turrets that seemed to protect it at the time are now powered down, allowing access inside.

That said, whomever was there seems to be long gone, leaving behind a flurry of documents, diagrams, and other miscellaneous work in their wake. The bunker has two levels, connected by stairs. The first level seems to house medical experiments, ranging from various herbal concoctions (if you get my drift) to precise surgical work. Things have been meticulously cleaned up on that front, so they won't be walking into a bloody mess. Everything has the faint smell of rubbing alcohol and bleach. Notes on this level are mostly medical in nature and quite rudimentary, some aspects bordering on pseudoscience or magic. Near the stairs, the Chosen will find cages, all empty. Strangely, even though the animals were only recently released, things are coated in a deep layer of dust, as if this place hasn't seen activity in a long, long time.

The second level seems to be comprised of mechanical experiments, builds, and engineering work. There's all sorts of different types of technology down here: some looks familiar, in a similar style to the tablets. Some is quite advanced, from the look of it…but it all seems to have been taken apart, cannibalized, and put back together in ways that make no sense. Glass screens drilled onto metal casings, keypads that don't seem to attach to anything, engines tied to attempted vehicles with rope. Most of these elements have been damaged beyond repair with hammers and staple guns.
Something interesting of note is that some areas within this bunker still seem to have power. Among them, a small block of video screens that seems to be used as surveillance. Most of these screens show areas just outside of the bunker or within the entry way. Other screens seem to flicker, occasionally showing static, but sometimes showing something that seems like faces within the static, figures moving in some way.

IV. THE HOUSE

This abandoned house sits derelict at the edge of town. Has it been there this whole time? It certainly doesn't look new…

A graveyard stands just beyond its gate, in front of the house, warning away trespassers. These graves don't look terribly worn with age, and have no years carved into them, but have names and some even list cause of death. "Threatened the wrong scoundrel," "may Those Who Were There have mercy upon their soul," or "charged with a crime they did not commit" are not uncommon claims. There are dozens of them, daring intrepid Chosen to pass them and enter the house.

Said house is old, creaky, and creepy. Inside, the already-spooky effects of the forest seem to be more pronounced: one may occasionally hear voices or see visions from the corner of their eye, only to look and find nothing there. Peculiar things seem to happen in this house, though. Mirrors still hang in some rooms, and while they often show a true reflection of those who look at them, they occasionally show others as well: shadowy figures, strange people the Chosen have never seen before, even some faces of Aldrip locals, distorted and sometimes missing parts. The shadows within the house seem to shift, as if they can't quite decide what they should be hiding. Portraits also hang in the hallways, faded and dusty. Mostly they show unrecognized people in old-fashioned clothes, but occasionally one might think they see their own face, or the face of someone they knew from home.

The attic is of particular interest, containing among its many cobwebs a single large chest in the middle of the room. Opening this chest reveals an item of great importance to the person who first touches it, something sentimental or meaningful to them. Upon touching this item, it seems to crumble away into nothing.

V. THE STONE CIRCLE

Some lanterns lead past the forest, out to the meadows and fields where most of the Aldrip locals plant their crops. On a hill beyond those fields stands a circle of ancient-looking stones, their edges dulled with age, covered in moss and lichen. This stone circle stands within a large earthen barrier, little more than a hill beneath the grass. Opening doors within this barrier reveals what looks like ancient offerings: broken pieces of earthenware, bits of metalwork or broken pieces of armor, even the occasional rusted, useless weapon.

The stones themselves encircle a paved circle with markings at regular points. It almost looks like a clock or a sundial. Standing within the paved circle, one may imagine that they hear voices of people they don't recognize, along with a faint ringing in their ears. Within this circle, the sun always seems to be directly overhead, during the day. At night, the stars twinkle, but seem to move in their nightly pattern much faster than they normally would.

WILDCARD

Go wild! If there's anything that you'd like to do in the Trick or Treating portion especially, go right on ahead! Other than that, anything else that you may think of may go!

A Note: The festival will be available every night, and the lanterns will be visible until the next State of the Game post.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Yu has maybe a dozen things preoccupying his attention right now, so-- at first he doesn't notice Levi. The sudden voice makes him tense up a bit, but when he realizes it's another Chosen, he relaxes.

... Boy, he really has been feeling jumpy lately. He doesn't like it at all.]

Hey. Sorry. I didn't think anyone else was around.

[He offers a small, apologetic smile.]

S-sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I didn't expect to see anyone up either.

[Yu shakes his head.]

It's alright. That's a reasonable assumption to make. [He mirrors Levi's smile with one of his own.] Is this a usual time for you to be out?

...kind of. I wake up early a lot, so sometimes I go for a walk. It's nice when most people are still asleep, I can see the place without all the noise and hassle.

Fair enough. Things can get lively during the day, here.

[He hums thoughtfully for a moment.] Guess that means I'm disturbing the peace. Sorry about that.

[He sounds too casual to actually be sorry.]

No, i-its fine. People were going to start waking up soon anyway.

[If he really wanted to be alone he'd have stayed in his room.]

I guess that's true...

[His eyes go to the horizon. The sun'll probably be coming up soon, too. The quiet streets, the dusky pre-dawn light... His hands slide thoughtfully into his pockets.]

... It's kind of nice, huh.

Yeah. It's calm, I like it when things can just be calm.

[He'd had so little of that in his life.]

Fair. Especially since this place gets a little...rowdy, sometimes.

[He offers a sympathetic look. If you like it when things can be calm, you might struggle around here a bit, sometimes.]

My name's Yu Narukami, by the way. What's yours?

I haven't been here long enough to see anything, uh, rowdy yet.

[But he's seen more than enough in his life before being sent here.]

I'm Levi. Its nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too.

[Hard not to focus on the most prominent part of what he said. This most recent round of new additions to the town has been impossible not to notice.]

So you're new here? How are you settling in so far?

Yeah...just a couple weeks I guess? I'm not sure how much time has passed.

[Some of it had felt like years, but he knows that's not right.]

I'm not used to any of it. It's so weird.

[That's almost relatable. Time feels so strange here, sometimes. Weird earns him a sympathetic grin, though.]

It is, isn't it? Is it less busy than where you're from, or more?

Um, well, less than were I was right before here.

[But then most of Prehevil was dead by the time he got there.]

But I've been to places like this, uh well, with this much activity before.

[Hm, Yu can understand that. Aldrip is certainly less lively than Tokyo was, but sleepy Inaba was more comparable.]

Glad to hear it's not totally foreign. I have a feeling that might get sort of overwhelming.

Its still...this whole place is so different that where I came from. In the styles and buildings and those things.

How long did it take you to get used to it?

[Yu nods; so many people here come from so many different places...it makes sense that it would be really different for some people. It's a little like that for him, too. He goes with it pretty easily, but plenty of stuff here is foreign to him, as well.]

There are some things I don't think I'll ever get used to. [A wry smile.] But I've moved around a lot, so...maybe I'm just used to not being used to things.

[... If that makes any sense.]

Mm.

[He supposes he didn't expect things to all just seem normal at any point.]

Thanks, um, I guess. I guess it'd be different for everyone anyway.

[A pause, and then he nods.]

That's true. Some of us come from the same world, or similar...but for some, it's very different, too.

Mine is more, uh...advanced than here.

[In technology and stuff. But he has no idea what baseline other people have for that.]

I don't think there's anyone from my world here. I don't know if that's good or bad.

Mine, too, in most ways.

[Maybe not so much with the tablets, though. 2012 and all. He hums thoughtfully at the other assertion, though.]

I feel like that'd be kind of lonely.

I don't know...there were a lot of people I didn't like back there.

[He wouldn't mind seeing the other Termina contestants, though. Most of them.]

[His eyebrows lift at that assertion.]

Sounds like this is more of a break from them, then?

...yeah, pretty much. I don't miss it.

[Well, aside from some of the things it has and here doesn't seem to.]

[It's-- hard to imagine what that must be like. He doesn't mind Aldrip, for the most part, but he'd certainly prefer to be home, in most ways.]

I can't say I understand. [He offers a slightly apologetic smile.] But it's good that you get to have a change of pace, then.

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