crescentview | dec event.

dec event.

prologue

You awake to find yourself in a bed that creaks with your every movement, motes of dust flitting about the sparsely lit room. Whether you wake alone or with another by your side, you exit the worn-down building to find yourself on an old, abandoned farm. It isn’t long before a familiar voice lilts in your ears, carried to you on the breeze—

“Hurry over to the town square. Chop chop!”

Whether you go willingly or find your feet inexplicably compelled to trudge into town makes no difference. Once you arrive, you find yourself surrounded by a small ocean of new faces— some confused, some angered, and others quite chipper. At the center of the crowd is a bright-eyed woman with an otherworldly allure, her white hair tied up neatly in a bun, pamphlets and assorted papers tucked in her grasp.

“Welcome to Crescentview, farmers!”

Spreading her arms out wide — as much as she can without her papers blowing away — she eagerly regales the crowd with some fun facts about the island and the town while also reminding everyone of one very important fact:

“Remember, you’ve been brought here to tend the earth, fall in love, and begin your new lives together. You’re not leaving until you do. It will be quite the experience for you, I’m sure.”

Complain, grouse, or rejoice if you like, but don’t expect the Goddess to budge. Oh, right, there’s that too: she, the Harvest Goddess, is the one presiding over this land. Don’t get on my bad side, she gently warns as she stuffs pamphlets into the hands of Crescentview’s aspiring farmers.

spring breeze

While you’re here, you may as well check out the pamphlet the Goddess insistently pressed into your hands. Within it, you’ll find a handy infographic on each of your neighbors detailing their likes, dislikes, and... ideal dates? Even the Goddess’ profile is there. How invasive! Each farmer’s picture is hand-drawn by crayon into simple stick figures with the only difference being how the hair looks on top of their heads… if it can be called hair with the mess of crayons, that is. Every single stick figure is smiling. In front of each personalized pamphlet, there’s a stick figure on the cover with the same style as the photo. It’s definitely yours with how the hair color seamlessly matches yours. For the ones who have multicolor hair, you might notice the goddess seems a little more huffy with you.

The pamphlet also includes a map of Crescentview and lists the services available in town. There aren’t many on this small, remote island. Learning how to fend for yourself seems like the best course of action. Finally, a hand-printed bingo card has been made up for each new island resident. The Goddess must have spent quite a bit of time making these...

The Goddess gives her new questionably loyal followers a chance to mingle and mix before speaking up with another announcement. A small group of haggard-looking fairies appear at her feet, and clapping her hands, a notice board springs into existence. When the fairies fail to react, she gives one a nudge with her foot, prompting them all to burst into the world’s smallest round of applause. It’s a little... pathetic.

“Ta-da! Behold: the task board. Every season, I’ll give you new tasks to complete, and in exchange, you’ll be richly blessed by me, the Harvest Goddess. Spring is the season of new beginnings, so let’s take a look at what we’ve got cooking, hm?”

task board

The task board is located in Town Square and changes from season to season. In real time, a season is one month long. The following tasks are available from December 1st to January 1st and more tasks may be added mid-month.

Certain rewards are only available through event participation, so please keep this in mind when planning your threads. Multiple tasks may be completed within a single thread, but when turning in, please link to the individual tags in which each task was completed.

Finally, rewards are per character, not per farm, so those with housemates may want to coordinate with one another with regard to what animals you’re bringing home to your farm.

1. Greet your neighbors. For every person you meet, you will be given a random bag of spring seeds. Potato, cabbage, turnip, strawberry, and cucumber seeds are available at this time. Alternatively, random mushroom spores are also available. These include morel, matsutake, and common white mushroom spores. This task can be completed a total of 10 times for rewards. Please specify how much of each you would like when submitting your threads, i.e. “I’d like 5 random spring seed bags and 5 random mushroom bags, please!”

2. Exchange names. Start learning some names and faces: you’ll be seeing a lot of these folks! For each name you learn, you’ll earn a random bag of spring flower seeds. Daffodil, tulip, forget-me-not, primrose, and hyacinth are available this season. This task can be completed a total of 10 times for rewards, and yes, you can cheat the system and introduce yourself to someone you already know, but the Goddess won’t like it.

3. Check out your new farm. Take a look around and settle in! After a bit of wandering, you’ll notice a small cat or dog following you around and looking up at you with them big ol’ eyes. Looks like it wants to stay with you, but will you adopt it? This task can be completed once.

4. Till your field and begin planting. Find the beat up farming tools in your beat up house and begin beating your farmland into submission. Plant some seeds and be rewarded by the Goddess with a single chicken or rabbit to keep in your coop. This task can be completed once.

5. Visit another farm. Pay one of your neighbors a visit to receive a stationary set blessed by the Goddess herself. There are no cell phones or Internet on the island, so get used to sending all your “LOL”s and “XDDDD”s by hand. This task can be completed once.

6. Make a new friend. Isn’t friendship wonderful? For each person you proclaim to be your friend, you will receive two random gacha items. This task can be completed 3 times.

7. Pray to the Goddess. Whether you do so grudgingly or willingly doesn’t matter much to her so long as you’re doing it! Clasp your hands together and bow your head or throw an offering into her pond— she’ll hear you either way. Praying to the Goddess will net you a barn animal of your choosing: a cow, sheep, alpaca, or goat. This task may be completed once.

Caution: throwing certain items into her pond may have consequences. Choose your offerings wisely.

mod notes

⬥ Welcome to the game's opening and our first event!
⬥ A second event post will go up in mid-Dec.
⬥ Please plot over at the Dec Plotting Post.
⬥ As a reminder, please keep all plotting on the OOC post as not everyone has Discord or Plurk.
⬥ Please submit your completed tasks at the top-level below.
⬥ Have fun!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ more than what we are... ]

...Even if you want to be more than that?

[ ... ]

Um, not...you in particular, I mean. More like, er...

[ asking for a friend? no, that sounds silly... ]

I imagine that there are a lot of people who have their own ideas about...who we are, and what we should be, I suppose...so I just, wonder about that, really.

[ she's had a lot of time to think about these things-- ]

Ah... Maybe?

I can't really speak for anybody else, but... I know I want to strive to be better, so I can keep up with my teammates and be more reliable for my master. But I can't change that there's just some stuff I can't do or am never gonna be good at. I'm not built for everything... really, I'm not built for much at all. But I can't force myself to be smaller or faster or smarter. All I can be is Otegine.

[Does it make sense? He isn't sure, and he pauses with an apologetic shrug and a glance off to the side before continuing.]

What other people think we should be, though... ah... I don't know as much about that. I guess it depends on the... uh... the person. [Expectations and legends and stories did far different things to something like him than it ever would to a person, after all.]

[ she's quiet for a while, but she does smile at his words, a ghost of a curl on her lips. all he can be is himself, but he still... ]

...You probably don't need to be, if you're already thinking like that.

[ faster, or smarter, or smaller. there's something stirring in her chest, when his words echo in her head. she knows she's being a hypocrite, reassuring him like this. and yet... ]

That you want to be better...I think that's important.

[ but is it enough? if she were looking at herself, of course she would say no. looking at him, though... ]

[...

He pauses, visibly surprised at the advice. It's not quite a compliment, but it's reassurance, something that oddly makes his chest fill and an awkward little laugh tumble from his lips without much thought, trying to stand a little taller. He doesn't know if he agrees that it's enough, but...]

R-right, right. I mean, I can't really catch up to everybody else if that's all I think about.

[A beat, and he stutters a bit. Why are they talking about him, amyway??]

Though, uh... It applies to you too, though, doesn't it? I mean... in regards to your sister.

Nobody here knows her. So nobody's really expecting you to be her. I guess... it matters more what would make you feel content.

[It wasn't exactly an easy guess for a person, and no one could make that call for her unless they were being particularly cruel. But sometimes a person's worst enemy always ended up being themselves. Wirh how meek she is, he hopes it's not the case for her.]

Ah...

[ what would make her feel content? honestly, she doesn't really know what that is. she's always had an idea, but...she's had a lot of time to think it over, and a lot of time just...coming up blank.

kind of heavy to just drop that on poor otegine, though - especially when his words seem so sincere, like they're coming from the heart. should she say anything? ]

You're...very considerate, Otegine. [ he reminds her a bit of addam, honestly. he's got a strength. ] And you're not wrong at all. I just...

[ well, he'll probably find out, sooner or later. ]

Er, I appreciate it, is all I'm saying.

...Mn.

[Shit. Did he say something wrong?]

I hope that wasn't too much at once. It's kind of hard to think about stuff like that given, uh... [He just gestures vaguely at everybody else with his pamphlet.] ...The weird demands and everything. Asking a bunch of strangers to get married is... uh... it's not...

[He can't quite finish his sentence, mostly because he doesn't know how to explain that he can't, full stop. No way. Impossible. That was for the goddess, not this poor girl.

This does leave him just silent and gesturing frustratedly at nothing in place of words and probably looking like a fool. An attempt was made.]

Ah...yes, that truly is quite, er...a lot to ask of someone, isn't it?

[ she tries to offer a plaintive, awkward smile -- truth be told, it's far easier to consider the absurdity of the situation they've gotten themselves caught up in than it is to get into the nitty gritty of her past. ]

I mean...it's usually not typical for Blades to marry to begin with, from my understanding, even with each other. I guess there are a lot of factors that would make that a bit difficult...

[He's nodding along quietly, up until she says the word "blade". Plural.

...

...

It's hard to tell if how he looks back at her is surprise or barely-veiled panic.]

W-wait...

What?

Oh, did you...not realize that I was a Blade?

[ she wasn't exactly making an effort to hide it, given the bright green core crystal she has out on display... ]

Or...do you not have Blades at all, where you come from?

I... n-no, we do. We have... a lot of them, actually. I just...

[Girl? Girl sword?

...

She doesn't... feel like a Touken, either. He doesn't sense from her what made Hizen and the Goddess stand out like sore thumbs.

The panic slowly starts to subside to something closer to a careful curiosity.]

Uh... it depends what you mean by being a blade, I guess.

Oh, I don't mean Blades as in, like, your average "sword," if that's what you mean. Basically...a Blade is born when a person with a special talent is able to resonate with our "Core Crystals". This one is mine, you see?

[ eyes on the green, okay -- ]

We're called Blades, but we actually come in all sorts of types. I've seen whips, and scythes, and axes, too...just to name a few. When we pair up with a Driver, we lend them our strength...and our weapons. And usually, we're alive for as long as our Driver is, until we go back to our Core Crystal...and then, a new Driver finds us.

I'm...well, I'm a bit different from normal, though. For...for a lot of reasons, really.

[...

give him a second, he is still just kind of dumbfounded the longer and longer she speaks, and the pause he gives is considerable.]

[There's a sudden burst of energy from him when his mouth finally opens back up, words tumbling out.]

Y-you're actually a weapon, then? I mean, I know you said you're not a blade like a tachi or anything like that - I-I guess I could've guessed as much, you don't have the height of it or anything, uh... n-not saying you're too short, it's fine! But you're still used and you have to have people around in order to do that, right?

You're not human?

[ goodness, he sure is an excitable one, isn't he? she's not entirely sure how to deal with all of the energy headed her way: it makes her feel like she should be a bit more humble, given his enthusiasm. she's nothing to get riled up over...though she knows others would be inclined to disagree. ]

Most humans...aren't around for as long as I am, I don't think. Unless they've made some pretty big changes over the last hundreds of years...

[ a bad joke-- ]

[He looks about ready to burst with wanting to say something, but he bites his tongue, looking at their surroundings for a moment as though surveying the company.

With a nod, he grabs her by the wrist and, with a quiet apology, drags her behind the billboard.]

[ um??? should she be concerned??? she looks like a lost puppy dog, but she doesn't resist any, seemingly okay with being dragged out of sight.

hopefully no one gets any ideas?? they're not doing anything untoward, really..! ]

[He lets go of her almost immediately, putting a finger to his lips to hush them both. Though he's quiet, his excitement practically bubbles up from him.]

I'm the same.

Not, uh... not entirely. They don't use us quite like they use you, but... pretty close. [There's a light laugh, colored with mild disbelief but not breaking the easy smile over his features, looking over her with bright eyes.] I don't think I've ever met somebody so open about it before. Being an actual weapon, I mean.

Really? On Alrest, Blades aren't exactly a secret...well, not entirely, at least. I've...I know that there are cases where some want to hide themselves, but...that's more like they want to hide who they are, instead of what, if...that makes sense.

[ though he certainly doesn't seem like a Blade to her: no core crystal in sight, at least not visibly. maybe he hides it..? ]

Is...is it difficult, for you? Hiding something like that.

Mn, it does. An identity holds a lot more power than humans think, and it matters more to some than others.

[Some swords would freely give their names to everyone if their saniwa didn't keep them on a leash about it, while some barely liked to address the topic even with their fellow swords. It truly was complicated.

At her question, he shrugs easily.]

Ah... sometimes. Having an actual body is still pretty new for me. Before my newest master came around, all I had was my usual form.

I guess you could say it's in the best interest for our master that humanity thinks we're also human, though... well, while we look like this, anyway.

...So you're entrusting me with a secret, then.

[ that much seems clear. she's flattered, that he feels he's found a kindred spirit in her, kindred enough to share something that would otherwise be against his master's best interests...but then, his master's best interests and his own may not necessarily be perfectly aligned. after all, it seems rather sad to have to keep your identity under lock and key, even if revealing it would have consequences, down the line.

...she knows feeling that way makes her a hypocrite, but all the same. ]

...It's safe with me. I promise.

Likewise. It's not my place to share another weapon's identity. That's something between a weapon and their wielder.

[So: if she won't doxx him, he won't doxx her. Simple. He doesn't feel like she's as tight-lipped as himself and his fellow Touken, but if the rules worked differently for her, then maybe there was nothing to hide.]

I'm used to having to co-exist with people, even if it's... kind of new, getting used to having a body. But I guess... I hope you can know that it'll get better with time. No matter how long you were put away.

Better with time...

[ she seems to take his words to heart, all things considered. right now, it's still overwhelming, but... ]

I'll...put my faith in that, then. Time is something that I have a lot of. It's...kind of my thing.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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