ioduanlogs | [EVENT] 4th Wall

Entry tags:

[EVENT] 4th Wall - SHADOW WALKERS

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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

If you have questions about the details of the 4th Wall event, please ask them here!

The influx of temporary visitors is a regular enough occurence that the Dreaming Bridge has procedures in place for just these occasions. Last months' sopher'tat infestation has taken some of the rooms out of commission, but the staff are able to find beds for everyone. Temporary Dreamfolk that don't find accommodation with any friends or family in Aifaran will be welcomed here - though they'll have to deal with having roommates.

The staff are more than willing to answer as many questions as the new Dreamfolk can come up with about the city and its inhabitants, though the shadowy hangers-on have them a little bit more flustered than usual.

So, the Shadows have personality, but would communicating with them through the Speech have any effect?

Second, how much capability will Nita and Dairine retain as wizards? I expect spells (well, the higher-scale ones) won't work, but the Speech itself still should? And would Spot and, say, the peridexis also be left behind in the Dreaming plane, or could they come through?

Edited (Yes self, it IS mentioned in the OOC section. This is why we read things carefully!) 2018-07-16 17:50 (UTC)

It was not the first time for Yukine to wake up disoriented. It was, however, his first time to wake up disoriented in an unfamiliar place without Yato or Hiyori and with a maniacally grinning phantom that just wouldn’t stop following him. He’d tried to lose it, walking briskly through the strangely grey alleys without really knowing where to go, but when he was already running and it was still tailing him... it occurred to him to make a boundary.

Yet the specter only grinned mockingly, then passed through the barrier.

“Gaaaaah!” he yelped, backing away a little too quickly that he lost his balance and ungracefully fell.

Night was beginning to embrace Aifaran when a blonde-haired young man appeared in the general vicinity of the Dreaming Bridge. He was tall and lean, but he bore the form of one who was either accustomed to manual labor or combat training. Perhaps both; strapped diagonally across his back was a spear, and his hands were strong, calloused. He was quite cute, too, not that he seemed to realize it; his eyes in particular were lovely, expressive blues nearing gray. And on one ear he wore a small, hook-shaped metal earring.

The area was decorated in greys and blacks, but a wall not too far away had a symbol on it that glowed faintly. Intrigued, Ivarr approached, frowning.

It wasn’t a symbol. It was actually a bunch of letters written too close together, and they spelled Y-A-T-O. Below it were numbers.

He had no idea what any of it meant. Or where in the world he was.

Hi there!

Nita and Dairine will retain full capability as wizards (aside from game-breaky things...and of course, please don't use Callahan's Unfavorable Instigation on anyone!). The Speech will still work, but the Shadows themselves will be unintelligible. Unfortunately, as Spot and the peridexis are sentient beings with individual personalities, they wouldn't be able to come through the Dreaming.

To ensure that Dairine still has Manual access, she will receive a WizPod.

Right, then! No Unfavorable Instigationing on my watch. ;)

Nita will be fine, though Dair's reaction might be fun to watch...

All aboard for shadow-derived headaches!

Nita is one of those visitors with a lot of questions - some of which about said shadows. Her own had taken up the habit of 'pretend' ripping her Manual (that is, reaching for it and making 'tearing' motions) as an intimidation tactic; it didn't have any effect, but it succeeded in both irritating and unnerving her, and its inability to speak just fed that further.

Roommates aren't as big a deal, fortunately, and when not out-and-about and talking with locals she can be found flipping through her Manual to figure out if being here is interfering with any of its functions.

To characters sensitive to things like light and darkness, do the shadows feel like anything?

What happens if someone shines a light on them?

Amelia had wasted very little time on surprise upon finding herself in Aifaran. As natural as such a reaction might be, it accomplished very little. And Amelia was nothing if not practical.

No, instead she had spent long enough at the dreaming bridge to ascertain that lodging had been arranged for the night, and then she set off for the city. She moves briskly through the crowds, making use of a sturdy parasol to prod her way through when the people ahead of her fail to move fast enough. The shadow follows after, mimicking her gestures.

It wasn't Cairo. But it was something new and interesting, and Amelia was hardly about to let such a small matter as falling into another world prevent her from having an adventure.

Attached to this particular visitor, the impish shadow hounding his heels appears more like a snivelling minion than an object of terror. It makes mockery of his face whenever he turns his attention to it, smile splitting its shadowy countenance before the fog can obscure the sneering grin from view. Atticus Vedici pays it little mind. If that is the price he is to pay to keep on living after his execution, it seems the gods have demanded only a pittance.

He'll pay it gladly.

The locals of the city give him a wide berth as he makes his careful exploration of the streets and markets, following the sound of gossip towards the waterfront to where the Narrakra remains moored after her mysterious ordeal. There is only so close that he can venture without arousing suspicion, but he is a frequent enough visitor that anyone with a keen eye would take notice of him.

Not too far from the Dreaming Bridge, along a street that already has vendors set up to sell goods for the festival, is an oddly tall, blue man wearing an ostentatious attempt at an exotic outfit, complete with a veil hanging off of the horns on either side of his head. Where Tolunai managed to get a folding table and a chair is a question better not asked in front of any of the Bridge workers, who were bound to notice it was missing sooner or later. Regardless, there he sits, shuffling a tarot deck with all the skill of a card shark. Anyone observant enough to stop and watch might notice that the cards of the desk are mostly festooned with images of gods and goddesses, symbols unique to his world.

Tolunai is also quite loud, calling out in an affected heavy accent that sounds vaguely Russian. "Come now, do not be shy! Step up and get glimpse of your future! Is mysterious magic from across time and space, and you can see it for low price of five coins! Five of your currency! This is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

He hasn't been getting much business, and his shadow seems to be the major culprit. With an upside-down version of Tolunai's horns sticking out from either side of his head, the shadow leers at people who come too close, seeming to delight in scaring off potential customers.

[OOC: Feel free to PM me to request a specific reading, otherwise it'll be random!]

The impish little shadow hanging over Bobby's shoulders is the least of her problems, but a random passerby might think that the source of her irritation. There's barely-contained fury in her frame and the manner in which she stalks about the streets: like she should own them, and they are beyond her grasp. This as much as the creepy tag-along accounts for the wide berth she's given for the first few days of her presence here. All of the mechanics of her arrival are accepted without question - what is more important is the loss of her abilities.

Bobby may as well be human, and this is absolutely enraging. It was frustrating enough to hide her powers when it was by choice.

The only option before her is to live, and to make the best of the time she's here. Civilizations have fallen to mere mortals before, and there is so much she can accomplish in a few weeks, if she feels like it. First stop: find some clothes and get noticed.

Edited 2018-07-17 00:37 (UTC)

Raine knows well enough what it means, to be drawn to this world temporarily. All the changes, all the years passed, have not changed the Dreaming so much.

So: she has perhaps two weeks to catch up and make the most of those friends yet here.

...Science wins first. There's a shadow-creature tagging at her heels, and it isn't her husband's doing. Near the Dreaming Bridge, a little out of the way but near enough the main street, Raine hunkers down to prod at it. It grins at her; she frowns at it, and spins light out into testing probes.

The shadow grins less, but her light doesn't do much to it. "Fascinating," she murmurs, and tries a different approach.

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.

"Miss Sage," Klaus greeted her with a customary bow. He was formal as ever, but there was warmth in his tone. One didn't forget a friend that got you mutually banned from Anton's kitchen.

"It's been quite some time. I'm glad to see you."

Shadows will behave as regular shadows do when they have light shone on them. Though these may actually try to sidestep the beam, or once the light is off them they'll act exasperated or grumpy, folding their arms and having a silent hissyfit.

Amelia prods one too many people - a wayward glance of her parasol hits the one person who reacts by grabbing it and yanking hard, from instinct rather than conscious thought. Their full strength is the force of stone itself, and not something to be reckoned with.

For all that though, Rutile realizes quickly that the sturdy thing in their hand is not a weapon - or at least, it's not sharp. They frown and glance between it and its owner with blatant curiosity, the expression not out of place from a person in a lab coat. "What is this thing, exactly?" they say.

"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.

A young woman hops down from some crates when she hears the footfalls of someone approaching. She was sickly thin and dressed in drab grays and charcoal blacks. Even her skin had a faded quality to it. But she'd turned a pair of violently green eyes on the stranger, watching him warily.

Alice had been hanging around the docks lately, waiting for an opportunity to get a closer look at the Narrakra again. She wanted answers, and all she had was more questions.

"Oh," she said, glimpsing his shadow, "You're one of them. I thought you were a Sentry."

He cuts his eye sharply towards the movement out of the corner of his eye, and a subtle movement of his hand conjures a whorl of smoke into his palm. At the sight of the frail young woman before him, it fades, and though his posture doesn't relax, some of his instinctive defensiveness ebbs. (He is still a stranger in a strange land, as it were.)

"...I thought you were a Sentry."

At that observation, Atticus smiles thinly. "No," he answers, his tone of voice mild and cultured and decidedly unsettling, "that I am not."

Behind him, his monstrous shadow passenger makes a crude rendering of his smirk. He dutifully ignores it and instead takes a step towards the girl, but his attention is primarily focused on the ship. "What do you know of this ship?" he asks her, gesturing towards it with one hand.

Is it plain bad luck or fate that has Bobby venturing into the same store in search of clothing where the Fool now stands, negotiating an exchange with the proprietor? In one hand he carries a wrapped parcel, ostensibly containing wood work of some variety, while in the other rests on a bolt of fine fabric.

When the door opens to admit the latest patron, he glances up in an absent-minded fashion, before his gaze returns to her, lingering. Is it the shadow behind her that draws his eye, or something else?

[A: Arrival]

[This is...not the Heavens, and not Earth either. The idea of worlds outside what's known is a somewhat disturbing one to Bishamon, but as a god, she can't afford to appear cowed by circumstance, or the creature that appears to have attached itself to her. Even in a long white party dress and a fur-collared black coat, the statuesque woman with catlike purple eyes cuts a threatening figure as she marches into the streets of Aifaran, blonde hair trailing just above the ground behind her.

As soon as she spots someone who'll spare her eye contact, she approaches without hesitation.] You. Explain what's going on here.

[Her tone isn't callous, but it is authoritative - it's clear she's largely just impatient with the situation and wants some actual answers rather than being actively hostile.]

--

[B: Festival]

[Once things are explained, Bishamon is...not exactly at ease, but more prepared to take things as they are. If the talk of the town is any sign, they won't be displaced to here long anyway - she has work to take care of at home, but this is also a rare opportunity. It's uncommon that she walks among those from outside the Heavens, since she usually travels to the Near Shore to fight ayakashi anyway. But she does have a certain fondness for humans and their crafts, and the unusual beings of this world do seem to share that ability of humans to cultivate instead of just provide.

As she observes an Igheeri woman's stand of impressive plush dolls with a slight smile, the stallholder's daughter emerges shyly from behind the stand, young and clutching onto a doll of her own. It's not expertly made like her mother's, but it's impressive work nonetheless, and Bishamon appears briefly surprised when the girl explains it's her own contribution.

Then she smiles, the expression surprisingly soft on someone with such an imposing presence.] It's beautiful, child. I'm sure your mother is very proud.

Edited 2018-07-17 05:38 (UTC)

[A: Arrival]

[Having a shadow isn't actually a normal thing for Flame Princess, being a light source herself. So having a weird, sharp-toothed one stalking her from the moment she turns up in a completely unfamiliar place is unnerving, to say the least.

It doesn't help that just about every time she approaches a local to get out the first words of asking for help, they either shy away or outright flee, leaving her alone in the street. The flickering fire of her hair flares up, and her fists clench as another person runs in the other direction.]

Is someone gonna tell me what's going on!? [For a moment, her form warps and deforms into something demonic and shapeless, red eyes and an angry mouth just visible in it before she settles back into her normal shape of an older teenage girl, wearing a crop top and lounge pants despite the crown also nestled in her flaming hair.]

So rude...

--

[B: Festival]

[Festivals are usually meant to be fun, so Flame Princess tries to forget her shadowy stalker and seek out some good entertainment among the few locals trying to make them feel welcome.

The whole "candy art" thing is...kind of weird considering what she knows of back home, though, and she can't help but squint at one of the stallholders as they demonstrate it for her.]

So this is like...the non-living kind of candy, right? Otherwise that's pretty messed up.

Not even the Spirit of Darkness had been able to unnerve Sheena the way the shadows attached to these new Dreamfolk could. As a result, her nerves are pretty strung and her senses on high as she moves through the city.

And perhaps it's because of this and a strong bond of friendship--that the ninja senses a very familiar mana signature.

Raine.

Smiling, she turns the corner and comes up behind the other woman. Crossing her arms, she shakes her head--her still long ponytail swaying from the action.

"Do you have to study everything"?

Sheena just can't "hello" like a normal person, can she?

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[EVENT] 4th Wall - SHADOW WALKERS

OOC QUESTIONS

[IC] DREAMING BRIDGE

Re: OOC QUESTIONS

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oh hey there’s a guy who looks like Ilda! >:3

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Handwaving IC question-fest; also OTA!

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Bobby Fairfax (Beelzebub) | OC from Devin's World | Open

Raine Sage | Tales of Symphonia | Open [CRAU]

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:')

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B!

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Bishamonten | Noragami

Flame Princess | Adventure Time

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