crescentview | jan mid-month event.

jan mid-month event.

midsummer storms

The unrelenting summer heat has begun to let up as of late and those who make a habit of reading the news will know why: a hurricane is set to make landfall on Summer 16th. Spread the word to your neighbors and keep your loved ones and animals indoors. Expect that there may be some damage to your property, field and trees!

Fortunately, the hurricane brings with it only moderate wind and rain. Once the storm subsides and the whipping winds calm, you’ll be handed a letter by one of the Goddess’ many sprightly fairies who look quite a bit healthier and happier than they used to. Some of them look like they’ve been hitting the gym while others have a nice set of shiny new acrylic nails on their fingertips. Good for them.

Anyway, the letter details an upcoming event hosted by the Goddess: the first annual date auction. She has considerately included a form with her letter inviting islanders to volunteer as dates to be auctioned away while others have been voluntold. Oof. With the promise of a fabulous and extravagant vacation for those participating, the reward may very well be worth the price of entry.

With more news to announce, she requests that everyone meet up in the Town Plaza. The task board hasn’t seen any mid-season additions, but the upcoming date auction and the recently opened mines promise to keep islanders well occupied through the rest of the season.

This season’s crops are corn, onion, pumpkin, watermelon, and pineapple. Summer’s seasonal flowers are poppy, rose, sunflower, lily, and hydrangea. As for mushrooms, shimeji, trumpet, and common brown spores are available for the summer.

and... sold! first annual date auction

It’s time to d-d-d-date auction! Participation is highly encouraged by both the Goddess and her pushy little helpers. Every islander received a form delivered to them by said pushy fairies that contains the following application:

Describe yourself in three sentences or less:
List three of your best and worst qualities:
If you were a fruit, which fruit would you be and why?
Describe your ideal romantic partner:
Why should the auction attendees bid on you?

...You may have noticed that the form does not include a section for your name. That’s because this is a blind auction in which bidders must place their bids based only on the information provided in their application. Love is blind, as they say!

While some people may eagerly volunteer themselves to be auctioned away, those who are less bold may have been signed up to participate by a friend, neighbor, or the Goddess herself. In so many words, if you’d like to sign your character up but don’t believe they’d willingly volunteer to be auctioned, worry not! You may use the Goddess (or another character) as your convenient excuse so sign them up anyway.

Submit your applications here by the 20th at 12pm EST. The date auction will go live on the 21st at 12pm EST.

As mentioned in the overview, all auctioned off parties and their winning bidders will win an all expenses paid trip... somewhere. The Goddess’ lips are sealed as to the destination, but you get the feeling this trip will be quite a bit more than you bargained for.

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 January 1st to February 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.

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This month’s tasks are centered around getting to know your fellow neighbors on a deeper level. As such, the Goddess has put together a small human scavenger hunt to encourage people to learn more about the people they are living with — and hopefully falling in love with.

Find someone who...

1. Was born in the summer
2. Pours milk into their bowl before the cereal
3. Plays a musical instrument
4. Has more than 3 siblings
5. Works out 5 times a week or more
6. Doesn’t like animals
7. Would like to date the Harvest Goddess
8. Has traveled around the world
9. Speaks two or more languages
10. Is wearing socks that aren’t black or white

Each submission will earn you two random bags of summer seeds. Specify whether you want crop, flower, or mushroom spores in your submission. This task can be completed a total of 10 times.

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Many ingredients used in wine production grow in the summer, but so do a variety of tea plants and grains. Grapes, tea shrubs and grains like wheat and barley can all be grown on your farm or in your greenhouse, if you have one.

Complete the following tasks to earn yourself some nice beverage-producing crops for the farm:

1. Take something from last month’s harvest and gift it to a neighbor. You can give it to them directly, cook it into a meal, etc. Alternatively, craft them a bouquet, flower crown, or another gift from the flowers you grew last season. Complete 3 times for a total of 6 grape starters.

2. Share a piece of hot gossip with a neighbor or exchange secrets with them. It doesn’t have to be your secret! Complete 3 times for a total of 6 tea starters.

3. Exercise with someone. Go on a run, swim in the ocean, help them stretch out! Complete 3 times for a total of 6 grain crops. You may choose from wheat, barley, rye, or rice.

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Summer is the perfect time to hang out on the beach and splash around in the ocean. Participate in some summer fun at the beach and earn more animals for your barn and coop.

1. Swim in the ocean, build a sandcastle, or bury someone in the sand. Do any of the following for one of the following animals: cow, sheep, alpaca, or goat. This task can be completed once.

2. Participate in Hot or Not. It’s an annual tradition! Submit yourself or comment on someone else for a single chicken or rabbit. This task can be completed once.

to the mines!

The once abandoned mines have been reopened and are now accessible to any brave islanders who wish to explore their depths! But be warned: doing so may come at a cost. Will you take the risk and come out on top with rare and otherworldly treasures, or will you trip and sprain your ankle after stumbling over a small rock? Only one way to find out!

OOCly, the mines can be explored once per week and exploration is undertaken in a cyoa-style thread. The mines are a permanent feature and can be accessed now until the end of the game. Have fun!

mod notes

⬥ Welcome to our mid-season event for month 2! We hope you have all been having fun and enjoying yourselves. As always, if you have any feedback or concerns, feel free to reach out to us on the mod contact page.
⬥ The next event (and the season of fall!) will go live on February 1st.
⬥ Please plot over at the Event 2.5 Plotting Post.
⬥ As a reminder, please keep all plotting on the OOC post as not everyone uses Discord or Plurk.
⬥ Please submit your completed tasks at the top-level below.
⬥ Have fun!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The former. I cannot very well argue you are engaged if you are not.

( Not literal engagement, mind. )

He was honest with his feelings there. [Syrlya's sure of that.] ... I can't deny I was already considering leaving early to catch up with him. You've left him in quite an upset.

Yes, he does tend to be quite honest. It is one of his finer qualities.

( Sighs - small, and soundless. )

It's for the best, regardless, that he does not understand, so I will not quarrel with his anger. It is only his tone that began to wear on me.

( He is used to it, and he knows that simply is how Adelis is, but he does draw a line eventually. Angry or not, he does not take complete disrespect. )

[Syrlya crosses his arms, raising a brow.] I won't press for all the details between you two, but I know he is important to you--and I think he is fair in his anger to have been put up to this without his knowledge. I would feel the same.

Edited 2023-01-23 21:32 (UTC)

( That's foreshadowing for Trahearne,

There is a slight flicker in his smile when Syrlya calls out that Adelis is important to him. Hm. He doesn't like hearing it from another's lips. )

And if he knows me, he should know that I do very few things without reason, even when I heckle him. He is an intelligent child. He should know better than to demand answers and give up on thinking when I will not give them to him.

( Teacher talk! )

Having a reason for giving someone grief doesn't really ease the trouble it causes them, does it? [Though his tone is less scolding than his words suggest. It's fairly light, a blunt against Mishka's lean into authority. Syrlya has always been audacious in the face of his elders.]

Did you expect him to be this angry when you wrote it?

One cannot learn within the confines of where they are most comfortable. It comes with frustration.

( While he doesn't think much of the former - different cultures in his opinion, really - he'll grant the latter question is a legitimate query, so he'll entertain it. )

Fundamentally, he's fixated on my change in behavior. I did not consider that as strongly as I should have, but it does not change the end result.

( So, yeah, he did make an oopsie, but it's fine, )

... You should have a little more faith in him. His heart is wrapped in thorns, but he has not made it impossible to be touched.

[There's an unspoken: don't let that get back to Adelis because he hates being called out for being a tsundere.]

I suppose something happened in the time between when he left your guidance and now?

( A beat. )

I know this much. I have seen it. ( Unclear as to whether he means back home or here. ) But I suspected we do not have the luxury of time here, and I was correct.

( The question, though, yields a slightly lengthier quiet. )

Some number of things. I would be quite bitter if he discovers them through his own guesswork, but I would respect his growth. I know he is perfectly capable.

( He pivots off of what happened, and back to Adelis. But he is not dishonest - he would be proud of Adelis if he figured it out, or manipulated it out of him. )

[Syrlya hums. He can't say he doesn't get it--there's a number of things Syrlya has been through that he never wants to burden Trahearne with. Things that, undoubtedly, have him wondering why Syrlya has changed so much from the promising youth of years ago.]

Well, I think you should still apologize for your poor judgement. But, after he's had the chance to cool down. Lest he stick you full of holes.

Perhaps he would find it therapeutic.

( Not that he'd let him do it without a fight, but - a beat. )

... I will speak to him when he's calmed, whether that is tomorrow or next week. I leave it to him as to when he feels inclined to tolerate me.

Edited 2023-01-23 22:32 (UTC)

[As it turns out it's going to be a lot longer!!]

I'm sure he would at first, but I'd rather not--what even happens if you are stabbed, anyway? Do all of your insects just... [He makes a spraying gesture with his hands.]

Precisely.

( He smiles with some amusement, and for a moment there seems, almost, the brief crow of cicadas and buzzing of insects. Probably just a trick of the wind, though. )

... I will tell you one thing, since you are a friend enough to him that you came to argue his case on his behalf.

( His arms, unfolded; one comes to rest on his hip. )

... When Adelis knew me, I suspect, there was still blood in my body. At present, there are only these things inside of me, pressed up against the skin.

Edited 2023-01-23 22:42 (UTC)

[... Ah. Syrlya lifts a hand up, but he stops it in the air short of actually touching Mishka.]

Do you know how much time you have?

The longer I spend with other people, the longer I have, until a point.

But you need not worry about that. I will take care to handle it when the time comes. Take care not to mention this to Adelis, yes?

Perhaps I need not, but I will. [He has more than enough compassion to give for someone he is fond of.

Then he decides to close the gap, reaching up to place a hand on Mishka's shoulder.] I won't spill your secrets. I think he should hear it from you. If you are certain nothing can be done for you, then...

You should make the most of the time you have with him. For both your sakes.

( The gesture is... a strange one, if not wholly alien. Roche was a handsy one, and he would often offer comfort - even when Mishka insisted it was not needed. Still, it seems Mishka is not fully clear on how to receive it; he is still new, to this sort of thing.

Still, the suggestion makes him pause. Trahearne had erred toward this idea, but to have it reiterated is - mm. )

... And give him a closer relationship to miss? That seems cruel, does it not? It would be a counterproductive thing, I think, if he were to withdraw into himself after. He needs very little excuse to try.

No, to give him closure. Whether that looks like a closer relationship or just to treasure the one you have, contentious as it is, is for him to decide. And you.

It is... hard to lose someone you care for and realize you left too much unsaid because you thought you had more time. It is a rare chance to prepare for your end instead of being blindsided by it.

And... should you go, those of us who have become fond of him will ensure he isn't alone. [He smiles softly.] I want the same for Adelis that you do.

( Mishka is quiet, for a time - in thought. Of all things Syrlya has said, and he has heard, this, at least, seems to settle with some impact, like silt upon the swamp floor.

It sits heavy in his stomach. )

... Thank you, for being there for him where I cannot.

( And it was always going to be someone else. He had known that; accepted that; and yet, it is a bitter thing, that it could not ever be him.

He turns his gaze more clearly toward Syrlya. )

... Is this what you wish you had with Trahearne? Closure?

[... Ah. Syrlya stills at that, his fingers curling slightly. He doesn't bring it up much, because he isn't sure that Trahearne wants to walk around with everyone aware he's a dead man. It's a hard topic between them, too.

His smile slips off again, for a look still frankly mourning--wistful.]

We were--arrogant, in the face of another dragon. When I bid him farewell, it had never occurred to me that might be the last time I would have the chance to see him. That our final parting would be...

[He purses his lips, gaze averting down.] All I could think about was all that wasted time. My failure to save him. To be there. It's been seven years, the grief has had... time, to settle. I could never truly let go of his presence after I lost it.

... No, loss is never easy.

( And often, it is sudden. He understands his perspective.

He studies Syrlya, and his reactions in the soft waves that they come. He pictures Adelis, and wonders if Adelis, too, would see things this way, after some several years; he wonders if Adelis, too, would feel such grief over his passing, that he would hold onto it for so long in the thereafter.

Seven years is no short amount of time to miss someone. )

... But you are with him here, now, yes? ( A beat. ) Have you indulged in your time with him here, while you've had it?

( For however long it lasts - though Trahearne's desperate belief that maybe, maybe the Goddess could return them somewhere, in some way, with him still alive, still flickers in his hazy memories of that drunken day before the hurricane. )

Edited 2023-01-23 23:47 (UTC)

... I do still owe him a drink. [He lifts his head.] But--yes, I have enjoyed the chance to be by his side in peace.

[There are fragmented words in his memories from after that drunk meeting, hazy in all of the alcohol. Hard to remember the details except the hesitancy etched in Trahearne's face.]

When he isn't spending time with others, of course. He really seems to have thrived--and to think at first I was worried I would have to drag him out of being a hermit.

( Mishka will tastefully not get anywhere near his night with Trahearne, even if Trahearne was absolutely not at all subtle about whom he'd rather be with. )

Is he normally so unsociable? ( He grins, very slightly. ) Well... I do think he would quite enjoy it if you pestered him more often. He seemed notably fond of you.

( "Seemed." )

[It's fine he's aware now that Trahearne is getting Around.]

I should hope he is if I consider him a friend. [He chuckles, breathy.] But he is very used to the solitary life and shies from crowds--it was a great break from his comfort to take the mantle of Marshal of the Pact.

( "Friend"... Oh no... )

That certainly sounds like a title of some import. I suspect he had a great deal of responsibility in your home? He seems quite noble-minded.

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