dec event.

[crescentviewmods]

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!

navigation

Comments

[pyronic]

[...What a dreadful headache. Diluc will remain beside him on the mattress, and after Ellis jots that message on his palm, he shakes his head and rests his hand on his forehead. Heat is good for headaches, so he'll channel just a bit of heat into is palm to hopefully take the edge off.]

But it is. If I hadn't approached her so brazenly, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. I should've been on guard. [...] Was that glass bead important to you?

[framestory]

[ Ellis tries to keep his eyes open so that he can see Diluc talk. He really wants to just close his eyes, especially when it feels like the room is spinning, but communication is important. The warmth is threatening to take him into dreamland though... He quickly writes: ]

not mine

[pyronic]

[Oh? Well, that's something of a relief. That must mean the marble didn't mean much to Ellis, but one last question. After that, he's going to let Ellis get some sleep.]

Alright. Do you want it back?

[Just checking. He'll wrestle the Goddess if he needs to.]

[framestory]

[ Ellis looks at Diluc with a confused face for a moment. Did he interpret Diluc wrong? He thought he mentioned that the marble thing wasn't his. All he did was toss a pebble...

He'll just shake his head. Good grief. ]

[pyronic]

[Please, no need to get exasperated. Diluc laughs, and while Ellis can't hear it, he'll be able to see the thin smile on his lips.]

Get some rest. Sometimes the best cure for a headache is sleep.

[framestory]

[ Why is Diluc so hot and nice... Ellis thinks this is unfair for a brief second because the kindness reminds him of someone else. Bitterness seeps into him, but it feels like it's dispersing with the warmth from Diluc's hand. There were others who were also nice on the island, but there's something that hits different when he's in someone else's bed and being cared for like this. His face reddens a little, but he closes his eyes anyway. He would normally not sleep with anyone around, but his headache hurts so much and fatigue slowly consumes him.

He conks out until the next morning. ]

[pyronic]

[After explaining the situation to Kaeya, they agree to let Ellis rest in bed until he's feeling better. Before that, however, Diluc had shared the bed with Ellis, sitting beside him until his breathing evened out and he was sure he'd fallen asleep.

Ellis' waking will be accompanied by the smell of bacon and eggs frying in a pan. Kaeya is off doing Kaeya things, so the plate across from Diluc's is for Ellis.]

[framestory]

[ When Ellis wakes, the headache has subsided halfway. It doesn't hurt as much, but it still exists--Ellis will accept this degree of mercy.

He doesn't want to get out of bed, but his (what he claims to be) unnecessary survival instincts are screaming in his head to get out of bed, check himself, and leave.

He doesn't leave.

Ellis sits up in a daze until eventually getting out of bed to follow the smell. It smells nice... He claps once to let Diluc know that Ellis is here and goes to sit on the other chair at the table. He could have sworn Kaeya lives here too, but where is he?? He must be an early bird...

He puts his hands together to thank Diluc for the food before he starts taking small bites. It's delicious... he'd cry if he could. ]

[pyronic]

[Kaeya has gone out to do Kaeya things, but he'll be back... eventually. Diluc doesn't pay particularly close attention to Kaeya's schedule, erratic as it is, but that man isn't one to miss dinner even if he's quick to head back out afterwards. In so many words: don't worry about it.

Ellis' thanks earn him a deep nod — you're welcome — and Diluc begins eating his meal. There's hot coffee for Ellis as well. Earlier in the morning, he'd gone to the library to look up more information on how to mitigate a headache, and apparently caffeine is good for such things.]

Is the meal to your liking?

[framestory]

[ Diluc is so good to him... When he asks about the food, Ellis nods so fast that he gets a little dizzy from it, but it's to tell him just how much he likes it. It's very good. He drinks the hot coffee little by little because, well, it's hot. He doesn't want to burn his tongue. He feels a little more awake with such delicious food, the fact that this nice handsome man made it for him, and coffee. ]

[pyronic]

[...It's good that he likes it, but he'll make himself dizzy if he nods that emphatically. Diluc's laughter is sparse, but it's laughter all the same.]

Good. I apologize if the coffee is a bit too hot for your liking. I'll keep that in mind next time.

[framestory]

[ He waves with his hand almost frantically as if to say this is fine. It's some fine ass coffee. He sips even more of it.

He holds out a hand to Diluc to ask for his. He wants to write in his palm. ]

[pyronic]

[Don't make your headache worse with all that frantic waving, Ellis...! Diluc extends his palm to him. here u go]

[framestory]

Thank you for taking care of me. You're a very warm person in both ways.

[ He thinks Diluc would be nice to cuddle with during the winter... ]

[pyronic]

[In both ways, eh...? His thin smile turns a bit wry, however. He isn't so sure he can agree, but he won't concern Ellis with how his view on himself differs quite a bit.]

I'm flattered that you think so. You're quite a warm person yourself.

[Ah, but now his expression pulls sheepish, realizing he's overlooked something vital.]

I apologize for my lack of manners. We've not yet exchanged names. I'm Diluc, and you are...?

[framestory]

[ Is he a warm person? Ellis thinks he's rather cold, or the annoying warmth you feel for a fleeting second in the winter before it's gone.

Instead of focusing on that, he writes his name on Diluc's palm, "Ellis". ]

[pyronic]

[Ellis? Yes, that name suits him well, not that Diluc uses any sort of measurement to determine what names suit some people more than others. He nods, smile easing wider.]

It's nice to meet you, Ellis. Should you ever need a favor, you can feel free to call upon me.

[Diluc's busybody ass will go crazy if he isn't otherwise occupied. Give him chores to do and he'll do them!]

[framestory]

[ Wow. Ellis will swoon at this rate. His cheeks turn a little pink from all the kindness that Diluc offers him. He's been friendly and helpful to other people many times, but to be on the other end of that feels a little... intimate, and it's scary. However, there are no changes on the outside and Ellis continues to smile.

Keep it the same. Keep it the same. ]

Can we till the fields together? I'll get better the next time we meet.

[pyronic]

[Diluc isn't dense — he sees the color rise to Ellis' cheeks and realizes he must've touched him on some level — but... he'll trust Ellis to let those feelings pass, whatever they may be. He isn't someone to get close to, and rather than draw that hard line in the sand and make Ellis know it, he'll hope he reconsiders harboring anything like a crush on him.]

Of course... just as soon as you've been relieved of your headache. I can't have you working yourself sick.

[framestory]

[ He nods again. Bless Diluc for thinking Ellis is normal, because while his face changes color at embarrassment or such, he can't harbor any real feelings. He's just pretending to have a likeable personality.

Fortunately for Diluc, those sort of feelings, if ever true, will never come to fruition.

Ellis withdraws his hands and nods again. Can't be working when sick. That would just make him sicker. ]

[pyronic]

[With all that said, he does admire a hard worker. Being willing to throw himself into the laborious task of tilling a field is no small thing, and Diluc appreciates how eager Ellis is to help others. Well, speaking of that—]

You enjoy helping others, don't you? That's admirable.

[framestory]

[ Is it? He knows that he's helping people, but he's not helping others for their benefit. The less enemies he makes, the better his survival rates when starting from basically nothing. This isn't a survival game and a lot has been provided at the start, but his mind always gears his thoughts towards it. Ellis kinda hates it, but that's life for a fictional character created for a specific purpose in mind.

Ellis just opts to look sheepish and finishes the rest of his food, writing on the table with his finger, making sure Diluc can read it not upside down. ]

It's nice to see people happy.

[pyronic]

[Just another day in the life of a Haki oc...

That's not a particularly surprising answer coming from Ellis— he seems like a sweet, good-natured boy insofar as Diluc can tell. He nods, though not with any particular gusto.]

That it is, but don't forget to look out for yourself too.

[framestory]

[ Oh. Definitely. He always looks after himself. No need to worry about that, Diluc. Ellis nods enthusiastically, but man. This headache duration hasn't run out yet, so he feels a little wobbly before catching himself on his seat. Phew. ]