[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

[whattail]

Konoe for some reason was popular with shop owners, and usually tried to avoid them when necessary. But it was much harder to forage here in this city than in Sisa and his cloak had gotten torn. As soon as the female Two Cane entered the store, Konoe froze, able to feel her irritation from across the world.

His ears stood up straight, eyes narrowing into slits as he glanced at her. Something felt wierd about her other than the anger but he couldn't quite place it. Instead, he just decided to try and ignore both her and the fawning shop lady and make for the exit.

[divineviolence]

This place is just full of strange people, whether they are native to Konryu or another Dreamfolk like her. She spots Konoe almost immediately, the ears and tail jumping out at her before she cares to notice his suspicion.

He makes for the exit, and she stays put in front of the door, amusement in her eyes. "What's the rush, kitten? You haven't even bought anything."

[whattail]

Konoe immediately lowered his ears and glared at her, like he would any sort of person who got in his way. Even if it was a female Two Cane, and someone interesting to observe, he didn't want to deal with her. And the shop lady who kept cooing how cute he was.

"Don't call me kitten. And you're in my way."

[divineviolence]

She has clearly touched a nerve, much to her pleasure. Behaving nicely is so utterly boring, and this city is frustrating. The corners of her mouth curl up slyly.

"Am I? Well, I suppose I am." Bobby does not, however, move. He didn't actually ask her to. "What's your name, little one?"

[whattail]

Well she came to the right place, because Konoe didn't like anyone bothering him, much less some strange Two Cane. "Why should I give you my name if you don't even give yours first?"

Like his first conversation with Rai, but this woman was decidedly less striking and companionable.

[divineviolence]

Sassy little thing, wasn't he? Fascinating. Was that the cat in him, or just his nature? She laughed quietly and gave a slight nod.

"Quite a good point," the demon acknowledged. "If you really insist, my name is Bobby. Now it's your turn, unless you're going to be rude."

[whattail]

Well that was easier than he thought it was going to be, but he didn't like the sense of amusement he got from this female Two Cane.

"Konoe," he said curtly. He had no qualms about being rude, but she did give her name. It didn't mean he was going to be friendly. "Now get out of my way."

[divineviolence]

"I'd tell you to make me, but I don't want to unduly disrupt this lovely shopkeeper's business just because you have a short temper," Bobby scoffed, stepping far enough aside that Konoe could walk past her, but not without having to get quite close.

If the cat-boy did in fact leave, Bobby would saunter after him. Konoe was a novelty to her, and she didn't intend to let him wander out of sight so quickly.

[whattail]

He did in fact try to ignore her as he left, getting progressively more antsy as he was being followed. This was an uncomfortably familiar feeling to the devils that were normally stalking him, and Konoe was considered climbing a building or running.

Unfortunately, he was absolutely and utterly lost, and from his body language it was pretty obvious he knew that Bobby was still there.

[divineviolence]

Bobby didn't try to hide the fact that she was tailing Konoe. There didn't seem to be a point; by his body language he knew she was there. Extrasensory abilities in keeping with his cat-like qualities, then?

"Someone needs to teach you how to disappear into a crowd, kiddo," she called after him. "You're about as blunt as an elephant, which is backwards for a cat."

[whattail]

Konoe just finally had enough and growled at her, pulling out his sword as a threat. "If you don't leave me alone, I'll get rid of you another way!"

His eyes were narrowed into slits and the fur all over his body puffed up; it was clear he was extremely agitated.