[EVENT] 4th Wall - SHADOW WALKERS

[khuimods]

Characters: Everyone
Date: July 16-31, 2018
Location: Aifaran and the rest of the archipelago.
Situation: 4th Wall! Temporary Dreamfolk have begun appearing in Aifaran.
Warnings/Rating: None. Though please warn for things in the headers at your own discretion.

Khu Ioduan's first 4th wall event is here - so we'd first like to extend a warm welcome to anyone newcomers to the game. We're excited to have you here and hope you enjoy your time in Khu! For everyone, this is a great opportunity to try out new characters and bounce around ideas - we hope everyone has fun!


And the silence of short days, the silence of the year, the shadow...

ANOMALIES

July had already been a strange month for the inhabitants of Aifaran. The Narrakra returned with more questions than answers about its crew, and the thick fog and and the oppressive heat lingered like an awkward and unwanted houseguest who couldn't take a hint to leave. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, or perhaps it was just the torrid weather getting to people, but some could swear to seeing shadowy figures in the persistent haze.

By the 16th, the sanity of these individuals is no longer in question. The shadowy figures had become abundant for all to see, wandering the city as though in a daze before fading into obscurity.

ARRIVAL

The strange shadows that had appeared throughout the city have manifested… people. Perhaps even people other Dreamfolk recognize. As they step into existence, the obscure phantasms have taken on a sinister countenance. They peer at the world with blank, hollow eyes, and bare a mouth of invisible teeth with malevolent grins. They are otherwise indistinguishable from other shadows save for these alarming features, and they are attached to the newly-arrived Dreamfolk, marking them as somehow...different. Hovering at these visitors' heels, following them around at every step, impossible to banish.

The citizens give them a wide berth, some even crossing the street or outright fleeing in terror to avoid these new arrivals. There have been so many bad omens of late, none are keen to take any chances.

The shadows can't physically affect anything, but boy do they have personality; there's a lot of sinister grinning going on, and they tend to mimed mockery, sometimes going so far as to mimic the emotions of the person they're attached to -- sometimes even those emotions that person might not wish were shown. The extent of this is, of course, within your discretion to play with.

FESTIVAL

The arrival of these especially transient Dreamfolk is usually met with celebration, an impromptu festival that aims to give them a condensed experience of Aifaran in the short time that they're here. The grinning shadow companions that come attached to this particular batch of Dreamfolk has put a slight damper on the usual festivities, but some people are determined to make the best of it.

In order to help make the new Dreamfolk feel more at home, some enterprising individuals have taken it upon themselves to paint the town… greyscale. Instead of the usual riot of color, a small area around the Dreaming Bridge is quickly decorated in greys and blacks. An few enterprising confectioners start selling candied versions of the grinning phantasms; some of them are true to nasty form, but others have been made to look much cuter than the actual shadows attached to people. All, of course, are delicious. In the same fashion, some tailors have conspired to provide plushies in similar form.

It's not all fun and games. A theatrical troupe takes over a shopfront for rent and turns it into a haunted house featuring spooky legends from around the archipelago. The troupe makes a serious effort at being scary, including a convincing representation of the Night Fisher lurking in the building - although if anyone comments on this creature, the staff will only give them confused looks and insist that wasn't one of the attractions.

---

OOC Notes:

4th Wall visitors are going to be arriving with a maniacally grinning shadow dogging them for their stay in Aifaran. These specters cannot be banished or destroyed, but nor can they interact with anything physically, including the visitor themselves! They make up for it in BIG PERSONALITY though, because they're kind of shitheads.

* * *

Just a quick reminder that anyone is welcome to the 4th Wall event whether they play or have ever played in Khu Ioduan or not, and that both canon and original characters, as well as CRAU and canon OCs are allowed. If you are unsure whether your visiting character falls under these categories, check out our Application FAQ for more detail!

Please note that we do not accept AU characters like genderbends/Rule 63 characters, crack versions (like fandom Abridged series), etc. If you have any questions, please ask us!

The newcomers are Dreamfolk and will ICly be referred to as such by the native residents of Aifaran, but there are a couple of important differences between them and the Dreamfolk who live in the city long-term, namely:

• Fourth-wall characters will not have Talent tattoos. In a nutshell: Dreamfolk usually get a magical tattoo with that provides them with a new ability upon arrival. This tattoo is also what keeps Dreamfolk anchored to Aifaran's world, Konryu.


• Fourth-wall characters will be able to reply to network posts, but not create their own. This will be explained as a Dreaming glitch -- the consoles and yimos will register their names, but not let them make their own broadcasts, similar to how a real-life forum distinguishes between someone being logged-in and someone being logged-out while still labeling their replies with a nickname. Fourth-wall characters can also reply to character's IC inboxes using this same reasoning. Similarly, due to the way the community’s posting/membership allowances work, fourth-wall characters will not be able to make their own logs but are encouraged to make use of the mod-posted or catch-all posts made by members of the game. (Catch-all posts are essentially those made to cover a great length of time or a particular setting.)


• We'd like to remind everyone that this is a "live" 4th wall, meaning that what happens during the event will be completely remembered after the event ends, and any setting impact/changes/decisions that occur because of the 4th wall characters will be upheld.


• If you are bringing a character back that you've played during a previous 4th Wall event in our legacy game Tu Shanshu, you are welcome to have them remember that previous time! Or, if you'd prefer to bring them in "fresh", that's fine too. And of course, any characters who were previously played in game (either Tu Shanshu or Khu Ioduan) can retain those memories.


• Don’t forget the Setting page is available here as well, for your setting-related needs as the event progresses. Please note that while powers are typically not nerfed in the Khu Ioduan setting, we do limit world-or-game breaking powers as a matter of course. We welcome everyone to try out the game’s setting, but characters who are brought in solely to disrupt or "break" the game will be asked to leave.


• For organization purposes, we'd greatly appreciate it if logs and network posts involving 4th wall characters could be tagged with the %4th wall comm tags. Your mods thank you!

CHARACTER SIGNUPS & POSTING

Our 4TH WALL EVENT CHECK IN comment for characters wishing posting access for the duration of the event is open! Remember that you can request new characters to be added even after the beginning of the event, up until July 31st, the last day of the event and the day when the fourth-wall characters will ICly disappear from the city.

After that point, posting access will be maintained for any guest characters up until August 8th, to allow any threads still being played out to finish up. However, we do request that no 4th wall characters tag any posts dated August 1st and onward, as ICly their characters would have left the city by that point.

If you have any questions regarding these rules for the 4th wall, please ask them in the OOC Questions comment below.

Comments

[mountainsound]

A ▸ STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED | open

It is with the resilience of the Sacrifices that have come before her that Kettricken takes her first, deep breath in this strange land, willing herself to be humble and reserved. She will not panic. She cannot panic. Kettricken allows herself a moment to count her blessings: she is alive, unharmed, and unbound, and while she does not recognize this place full of noise and color, she can feel the salt of the sea on the crest of the wind, and knows that there must be a path back home.

Best, then, that she be on her way.

The lines in her face, deepened by stress and grief, bely her true age. Politely but firmly she stops a passerby and says, "Pardon my interruption. Can you tell me the name of this place, of the lands nearest it, and which ships are the most amenable to passengers?"

B ▸ SHADOWS OF US | open

The shadow that haunts Kettricken's every step is not a trick of the light, she realizes quickly. It resembles her in shape but not in kind; rather, it leers at her from the corners and tries to tug at her hair or skirts whenever it gets a chance, though it is never successful. Dutifully she has ignored it, knowing it cannot harm her, but she hates that it flicks in and out of the corner of her eye whenever she turns her head.

It scares away anyone who might give her a kind glance. Once, twice, thrice Kettricken approaches a denizen of this place to ask for help or directions, and each time they disappear when they notice her dark companion. A steady sickness grows in her stomach as she wonders if perhaps the shadows are an affliction in this city, and one that will condemn her in the eyes of its inhabitants.

"Do you not leave well enough alone?" she demands of it after some hours of this, briefly forgetting her composure.

Her shadow stands. Its grin contorts into a horrific snarl, mirroring her own anger and anxiety back to her.

B!

[afoolsgold]

"Do you not leave well enough alone?"

He knows that voice.

The Seaglass City is dark and full of shadows that bring more terrors with them as they emerge from the fog. The festival thrown in the honour of the newly arrived Dreamfolk seems to add an air of the absurd macabre to an atmosphere that is already grim, thanks to the return of the Narrakra. The Fool has no interest in the vendors' stalls that might have drawn his magpie's eye on another occasion. The darkness, the fog, the sneering faces that leap out at him from the shadows, all dredge to the surface a fear he had thought behind him now: a cold, dark place, a searing pain, an unyielding loneliness--

But that familiar voice stops him dead in his flight towards home, and he spins around swiftly, searching with desperate eyes for its source.

When he sees her facing off with the monster that hounds her, it's like being given a glimpse back through the sands of time. She might as well be a fresh faced girl at court again; that coward's grin, Prince Regal.

The Fool finds his courage and steps quickly towards her. "My queen," he calls out, but whatever else he might have said, he finds himself speechless after that alone.

[mountainsound]

"My queen!"

Kettricken's attention is snatched away from the aggressor and drawn to the streets of Aifaran. Though they are away from the festival now - she could not stand the revelry under such somber conditions - the crowd is still lively and she strains to see through the throng of people, simultaneously longing for and dreading what she might find.

-- and then, there he is, just as she is about to write off the voice as an echo of memory. She almost doesn't recognize him: he is a shade darker than her recollection, and he has always had a gift for blending in to his surroundings, but it is none other than the Fool who calls out to her through the crowd.

Kettricken takes a step toward him, searching for recognition in his eyes, and then a few more, her haste betraying her desperation for someone familiar. "Oh, Fool," she says. "By El and Eda both, it is good to see you again! I would that it were under better circumstances."

[afoolsgold]

He is grateful that there is distance enough between them for him to muffle his sob of relief before she can hear it. Queen Kettricken of the Mountain Kingdom, Verity's wife, Fitz's friend and confidante; seeing her here, seeing recognition of him in her eyes and hearing it in the relief in her voice, threatens to rip a surge of emotion out of him. The suddenness of it catches him off-guard; it is like when Fitz arrived, only to be snatched away by the Dreaming hardly a month later.

Perhaps that is the reason why he does not stop as he quickly pushes his way through the crowd to her, and catches her in a very brief embrace--before recalling himself, of course, and drawing back from her. "Forgive me," he blurts out instantly, a hand drawn up to his mouth, "it has just--it has been so long since I have seen anyone from our world..."

His words taper off as he studies her expression, searching her face for some understanding. Does she realize that they are world's away from the Six Duchies?

A

[blinkandshoot]

"Aifaran, apparently," Inga answers, arms folded. As for ships, she hasn't found out herself, but apparently there's a barrier surrounding this place. Which sounds mighty convenient to Inga, but her opinion on that wasn't what Kettricken had asked.

"I don't know about passengers, but I had a rough arrival. You too?"

[mountainsound]

Kettricken makes an honorable effort not to display her disappointment, and for the most part, she succeeds. "I did," she allows - though truth be told, how she arrived here is not quite foremost in her memory: a distressing fact that she has tried not to consider yet.

Though, it's curious that this woman claims to know nothing of passengers, despite being recently arrived herself. "From where do you come?" Kettricken asks. "You seem as familiar with this place as I."

[blinkandshoot]

That question is harder to answer, and she looks up as she considers. "Someplace that doesn't exist under a bubble," she says, giving some care to making her tone sound a little careless. Someone had mentioned "dreaming," but Inga doesn't think that that was literal.

"...Which isn't a metaphor, by the way." She tilts her head as she considers Kettricken. "Why do you need to get on a ship?"

A

[lasergrenades]

Pepper is less unnerved by the shadowy things that have followed the latest batch of Dreamfolk here than many of the natives; she's seen weirder, and seen it pretty often. So she doesn't skirt away when a young woman approaches her, distress clear on her face but her voice is firm. Whoever she is, she must have just arrived.

"The city is called Aifaran," she answers calmly, giving her a concerned smile. "The world is Konryu. There aren't really other lands nearby - none that are safe enough to go to anyway." She pauses. That last question makes Pepper's hear tight with sympathy. No ships can carry them home. "There's a ferry that goes to other places in the archipelago, but... that's kind of it," she says delicately. "I'm Pepper. Are you okay? Why don't we make sure you're doing alright before planning an impossible trek. Do you like tea?"

[mountainsound]

Kettricken's composure is masterful. She does not like much of anything right now, certainly not tea, but Pepper is too kind to deserve her ire. "Thank you," she says with a nod - and the gratitude is genuine, even if her tone is short. "I do appreciate the offer, and the information. But without knowing more of the situation here I don't believe I can stomach even tea."

Still, Pepper's reticence leaves Kettricken suspicious. Though she is careful to leave her expression neutral, she stands back, her head carried high

"What makes you say the trek is impossible?"

[lasergrenades]

Well, Kettricken is made of stern stuff, that's for sure. Pepper had barely contained her panic when she first arrived and that was only because Gene and Tony had been there with her.

"Well, it's not impossible, exactly," she amends gently. "Just not one you can take with a ship. People have been trying to figure out the magic of how we get here for centuries, and they haven't yet." Pepper gestures to the nasty little shadow over Kettricken's shoulder. "You won't be staying in Aifaran for long, probably. A couple of weeks, and then the Dreaming - that's the thing that brought you here - will send you back home." She holds out her wrist and shows Kettricken the small, shimmering tattoo there. "If you get one of these when you arrive, it means you're staying here a while. I've been here for a few years."

Sort of. Best not to confuse her with those details just yet, since it's not that important. Pepper hesitates, and though she's still smiling it turns a little sad. "I know it's hard to believe, but... well, my dad has been here like you before - temporarily, just for a few weeks. If I could see him more often, I would."