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MARCH EVENT LOG
At midnight on March 1st, a rolling lightning storm hits Yogen. Thunder crackles, and strikes of Anvil Crawler lighting can be seen lighting up the sky; anyone paying attention to the courtyard may see the explosive strike of lightning hitting the wisteria tree. Petals scatter throughout the air and are carried off in every direction by the wind...
As the month goes on the school will start to look even more barren. As the month goes on, several students start to disappear, with rumors spreading here and there about students disappearing after entering the forest. Those rumors twist and warp, and within just a few days there are rumors of a witch in the forest. But it's not a witch, nor a ghost, or anything else, but a dream, and those who enter will find themselves reminded of such by a soothing voice, the voice of a person they're familiar with, speaking gently in their ears:
"You are dreaming... They have always led and will always lead you here... Remind yourself, this is a dream..."
The world shifts subtly. There are gravestones marking the pathway now, and before long the forest is replaced by a completely new scene. A voice reminds you once more that this is a dream, and that you have always been here. You have always been led to this place. But where is this place? It's the world of a player character. It's nothing more than a snapshot in time. It might be one that they wish to escape, or perhaps a warm memory of a time that they wish to return to, but it is always an important memory to the character.
Whichever it is, the only way is to move forward. As characters move through the memory, characters will soon notice a snake and holly tattoo that spreads over their body will be. It starts small, a clump on one's back, but will spread across all parts of a character's body. It will reach the neck and face last, killing them upon reaching the eyes. As the curse spreads, they will notice changes in the dream including hallucinations, hearing lullabies, and shades that pursue them. They will also notice increased exhaustion and lethargy.
Upon reaching the end of the memory, they will find a glowing ball of light representative of a lost student's soul. Finding the soul will lead to both characters awakening at the edge of the forest, and the character who had been dreaming will be covered with the tattoo for a brief moment before it disappears.
Those who entered the dream may hear that same voice from before that tugs at their mind as the dream fades away:
"Remind yourself, this is a dream, and soon you will awaken. But you are here, as you always have been, and as you always will be... Soon, you will wonder where you were, and each moment after, will bring you here..."
The world shifts subtly. There are gravestones marking the pathway now, and before long the forest is replaced by a completely new scene. A voice reminds you once more that this is a dream, and that you have always been here. You have always been led to this place. But where is this place? It's the world of a player character. It's nothing more than a snapshot in time. It might be one that they wish to escape, or perhaps a warm memory of a time that they wish to return to, but it is always an important memory to the character.
Whichever it is, the only way is to move forward. As characters move through the memory, characters will soon notice a snake and holly tattoo that spreads over their body will be. It starts small, a clump on one's back, but will spread across all parts of a character's body. It will reach the neck and face last, killing them upon reaching the eyes. As the curse spreads, they will notice changes in the dream including hallucinations, hearing lullabies, and shades that pursue them. They will also notice increased exhaustion and lethargy.
Upon reaching the end of the memory, they will find a glowing ball of light representative of a lost student's soul. Finding the soul will lead to both characters awakening at the edge of the forest, and the character who had been dreaming will be covered with the tattoo for a brief moment before it disappears.
Those who entered the dream may hear that same voice from before that tugs at their mind as the dream fades away:
✽ Dreams may be whoelsale memories, or they may be more akin to dreamscapes based on a person's memories or mental state.
✽ The holly pattern represents the pain of love and aches of the heart, while the snake represents the yearning for the dead that consume a person.
✽ The tattoos will be blue or red.
✽ Characters may be drawn into the forest more than once, or require multiple memories to be gone through before reappearing. In those cases, the character who had gone through the initial memory will simply wake up in the forest alone.
✽ Characters who hear the voice upon leaving the dream will be more susceptible to entering and being lost in the forest.
✽ Anyone who is not rescued by the end of the month will be found at the edge of the forest. The tattoo will cover their body and stop just short of their eyes. It will disappear within an hour, but they will be exhausted for the rest of the day.
✽ The holly pattern represents the pain of love and aches of the heart, while the snake represents the yearning for the dead that consume a person.
✽ The tattoos will be blue or red.
✽ Characters may be drawn into the forest more than once, or require multiple memories to be gone through before reappearing. In those cases, the character who had gone through the initial memory will simply wake up in the forest alone.
✽ Characters who hear the voice upon leaving the dream will be more susceptible to entering and being lost in the forest.
✽ Anyone who is not rescued by the end of the month will be found at the edge of the forest. The tattoo will cover their body and stop just short of their eyes. It will disappear within an hour, but they will be exhausted for the rest of the day.
no subject
The memory of Noah’s corpse in his hands is far too fresh a recollection, after all.]
Where I’m from, it’s a term used on younger brothers. Which I’ve been told you are, correct? I’ve never had the privilege of meeting the eldest Ebalon son.
"where i'm from" and my brain autofilled "if we didn't keep moving we'd be dead. literally!"
(And surely, the Noah that Childe knows must've mentioned all the times he used to swim in the fountain and get into trouble.)]
Oh. Yeah! Harque is home, but he's always studying. [Noah kicks a stray rock in the path. It skips across the pavement and into a nearby bush with a rustle.] I never get to play with him, 'cause he's always being yelled at to go back to studying.
[He's going to complain to his new servant now okthanks.]
I don't even want him to become a Master, 'cause then he'll never have time to play with me ever again.
don’t worry it also afflicts me with madness. I also think of freezing to death.
If he has to feel bad about it later on, so be it.]
I’ve never exactly been a fan of studying either, if I’m being honest. Bookwork is a bit too boring for my tastes. [His Vision gives a dull pulse of life as he speaks, and with a wave of his fingers a palm-sized shark construct leaps out of the fountain to circle around Noah’s head, flicking a few droplets of water onto the boy’s face as it moves its tail.]
no subject
[The answer is probably no. Harque isn't exactly qualified to become one, and that's why he's studying so hard. It'll get him out of normal family duties, since Masters are required to cut all ties with their families upon being selected, which might be a good thing for him; that also means no more Noah.
Noah hates every member of his family other than Harque. It would be disastrous to leave the kid they barely even remember to feed here while he goes off to protect the world.
But for right now, all of that is perhaps secondary to the shark swimming around his head.]
Whoaaaaaa—! It came out of the fountain!
[Letting go of Childe, Noah guns it toward the edge of the fountain to look for more sharks, leaning over the marble and squinting. He does not try to catch the shark around his head, thanks.]
no subject
Anything in particular that you want to see? Horses, goldfish? [He tilts his head back to look towards the windows of the main house, pensive and thoughtful. If Harque is in there now, he could probably find him. Drag both brothers out of here and take them somewhere beyond their parents’ reach.
He’s pulled off more difficult feats in the past.]
no subject
Noah, oblivious to Childe gazing into the windows, looks up and smartly says,]
Horses don't swim in fountains.
[And sharks and narwhals do?
But he's reaching out to pet the narwhal, letting his hand plap across the surface of the water. When it ripples like normal water does, he giggles, loud and joyful.]
Do a goldfish! No, wait, do a... um... crab!
[You know, things that go in water. And obviously swim in fountains.]
no subject
[He’ll follow Noah’s requests first and foremost, however, the narwhal rippling and splitting into approximations of both a crab and a goldfish. The crab looks a bit like the constructs the Oceanid in Liyue might create, though obviously not to scale. It skitters around sideways through the air, spitting up bubbles while the long-finned goldfish follows gracefully in its wake.]
Are your parents home too then? Your auntie? [Don’t mind him, he’s just mentally putting together a kill list. Just in case.]
no subject
Uh-huh! They're home. They don't usually leave.
[They're somewhere in that house, doing something. Most likely bookkeeping or reading or haranguing Harque...
As he's spinning around in place to follow the movements of the hydro constructs, Noah realises he has no idea what a seahorse is. So—]
What's a seahorse?
[This is what happens when you live in slight proximity to a volcano.]
no subject
Oh! It’s like… [He pauses for a moment, as he’s never exactly seen a seahorse himself in person. In books and illustrations sure, primarily from the children’s novels he’d pick up along his journeys and send home to Teucer.] They look a little more like dragons honestly, so the name’s not all that fitting if you ask me. But they look sort of like…
[A crude approximation of a seahorse joins the two other creatures; its not particularly terrible, but the snout is a little too long and the tail is a bit too short. The fins on its sides are also quite large for its body, and it sort of… bounces and bobs through the air. He doesn’t know how to properly animate the swim cycle.]
no subject
Cool! It's so funny looking!
[It sort of does look like a dragon, but like, a really goofy one. Noah continues to follow the hydro animals around and watch what they do, how they move, with a curiosity bordering on scientific.
He's pretty distracted by the constructs. Distracted, and wants to do this himself one day — make things with magic, because he can't really do that all too well. He can make like... orbs. Orbs and sticks.]
no subject
We can go find a real one, if you like. It might take some time, but I think it would be a fun road trip. Do you want to bring Harque along with us?
no subject
Can we?! I want to! I never get to leave the house and Harque never leaves the study!
[...yeah, that's not a red flag. Noah bounces his way over to Childe, thinking in his little brain that this is obviously a nice thing that the servants want to do for them, since the servants are loyal to the family, yadda yadda — it makes sense, because sometimes they bring Noah books to read or things to play with, so of course this servant would want to take them on a vacation.]
no subject
Sure, I don’t see why not! Do you want to go right now? We can go inside and fetch him, if so. [He pauses, ducking down a bit once more so that he can properly look the kid in the eye.]
We’ll have to be quiet though, okay? We don’t want anyone to hear that we’re going and get sad over the notion that they weren’t invited.
no subject
I'll be really quiet, I promise. Let's go!
[Noah holds out a tiny little hand for Childe to take. If Childe opts to take it, Noah will drag him off to the study to go find Harque, with all the strength a tiny kid can possibly muster.]
no subject
Once inside he adopts some of that serious air once more, keeping an eye out for danger and fully prepared to jump out the window with the kid if they get caught and confronted. Harque will just have to manage somehow if they have to make a speedy escape.]
no subject
The house is empty and the hallways loom ominously, seeming too long at times and too short at other times, wavering in places where it's clear perhaps Noah doesn't remember how they look — the dreaming Noah, that is, not the child currently tugging on, erm, Childe. Sometimes the wavering is just a vase or other such fancy decoration that Childe will swear he sees one second and is gone when he blinks. Sometimes, it's entire sections of the house missing, and yet little Noah drags them both through it anyway as if he doesn't see it, following an invisible but winding path.
Eventually, they wind up at the study. Harque Ebalon is a lanky, tired-looking man, with that same stark-white hair and blue eyes that Noah has. There is One Genetic Code in their family and it is albinism.
Noah tugs on Childe's wrist as the door clicks shut behind him, as Harque gazes up at them serenely, inquisitively. He looks young, somewhere between eighteen and nineteen. Prime depression age, really.]
Tell him what you told me! [Noah whispers.]