meadowlarklogs | EVENT #006 AFTERMATH LOG

Entry tags:

EVENT #006 AFTERMATH LOG

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: December 19th to the end of the month.
WHAT: Event aftermath, Winter Solstice, Christmas.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Character death, self-sacrifice, drug use. Further notes at end of log.

> EVENT #006 AFTERMATH LOG

Zerzura's demise is a very near miss. Three out of four of the bombs detonate, with numerous Mycenaean guards' lives taken as a result of the assault. It's probable—even likely—that numerous Displaced were injured as a result of this attack. Just as the last bomb seemed likely to go off, everything stopped. As in: the scene ended, shifting, putting all of the Displaced to sleep. Zerzura won't end. Or will it?

The return from Zerzura will feel like waking up from a long nap. Instead of anyone waking up in their beds, they will find themselves on the ground beside the man-made river that runs down the center of New Amsterdam. The ground beneath them will be moist with recent rainfall. Anyone who was still in the throes of a fantasy and believing themselves to be a part of Zerzura will find themselves tossed out of that existence. Anyone who died at the precipice of the spear will still recall their actions vividly: their mind and body hitting a point in which it was finite, slipping away. There may be some room for doubt regarding their deaths. After all, they're very much alive now.

There are two constants among the Displaced when they observe themselves and others: that all of their chests are glowing with that familiar blue glow, and they'll all experience a feeling of serenity. This feeling won't come from any of the Displaced themselves. Much like the intrusion of the empathy bond, it will feel as if it's coming from elsewhere. The problem is that it's always there: there is no way of disconnecting, at least for now. The good news is that the serenity will begin to fade within the next day, and with it, the blue glow will go away as well.

All of the Displaced can't remain at the riverside. If they linger too long, it will begin to rain again. The rain itself will only be a light misting against their faces at first, before turning into a heavier downfall. If they're wary of returning to their lives initially because of the blue glow, they'll soon find that the people of New Amsterdam seem to look away from them as they trot through the city to return to their lives. This is a temporary sensation, seeming to have overtaken the city's citizens for the time being. Within a day or two, the blue glow will be met with the same paranoia that was fostered by the UN following the abduction of Kurt Fischer.

What can they do now? Aside from the feeling of serenity, little will have immediately changed for the Displaced. The best thing they can do is try to return to their lives as if Zerzura never happened.

Some things to check in with, though?

WORK. Upon realizing that the Displaced disappeared yet again, El worked overtime to make sure that all of the Displaced wouldn't lose their jobs. After all, that would mean they'd likely have to give up their housing, and Morningstar would need to financially step in to help. Not all of the places of employment will accept these excuses, especially since El can't put together a doctor's note without it promptly being verified as falsified. It's ultimately up to anyone's discretion over whether their character lost their job.

CHANGES. Some of the changes will appear out of nowhere: a dream that's shared, or a memory that's passed on rather unwillingly. It's time to explore what's happened, and even theorize as to why this has happened. And those objects that were the core of remembering who they were, back in Zerzura? They're permanent fixtures from now on. And what about those Union Attacks? For now, they may have an interesting place in the fighting rings. Time to convince the people running those shows to start including doubles matches.

PLANT LIFE. All around New Amsterdam, plants will begin to grow. These plants are varied, and they'll make an appearance anywhere that they might be allowed to grow. Is that a sink that's frequently full of water? Now it's mysteriously stopped up by a plant that's growing through the pipes. While all this plant life may seem like a miracle, having plants growing in every part of the city will quickly prove to be a problem.

HOLIDAY SEASON. The good news about everyone's trip to Zerzura is that they didn't miss Christmas—or rather, the December 25th edition of it. The city is still covered in Christmas trees and ornamentation. The stadium is still hosting a holiday market.

> WINTER SOLSTICE

In the days leading up to the Winter Solstice, there will be an uptick of paintings around New Amsterdam hinting as to where this year's party will be held: Sunpeak Garden. While there won't be any official notice, anyone interested or curious is free to visit this location on the day of the Solstice (December 21st) to see what's going on, and it will go on for the next three days, ending on the morning of the 24th. As they draw closer to the location itself, they'll find the botanical garden secured by a large, overarching tent, preventing rainfall from getting into the garden itself. On the air, there will be the scent of something being smoked—which they'll soon learn is a set of goats that seem to have been acquired by whoever put on this shindig.

Unlike many other events around New Amsterdam, this seems to be more private in nature. There is an unspoken understanding that beyond the paintings, there will be no social media posts. Inside of the garden, there will be a lot of plants and decorations carefully molded into sacred geometric shapes. Despite the unofficial nature, whoever put this event together definitely spent their time doing it. This Solstice party isn't a spontaneous thing, and anyone who goes will hear about the previous parties and how the proprietor does his best to make everyone happy.

Anyone who went to the Harvest Festival or Insomniac's Ball will see a lot of the same people working it, complete with some familiar tattoos. They'll be eager to welcome in any of the Displaced, especially any of the ones who tend to be featured in the shrines around the city.

Once everyone's here, they're welcome to enjoy themselves. Under some of the canopies of trees, there will be beds and futons, giving people places to rest. Some of these will be claimed, so anyone who's eager to stick around for a few days might want to get dibs. Otherwise? It's time to enjoy what's been put together:

FEAST. There will be a feast for the next three days. Aside from the smoked goats, there will be a lot of goat cheese and vegetables. These are the people who put on the harvest festival, after all. There will be a lot of pickled vegetables out on tables, salads, and everything else. Aside from cheese for snacking, anyone can partake in some delicious berries (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries) and nuts (walnuts, pecans, peanuts, and almonds—despite the difficulty in getting most of these in New Amsterdam). There will also be figs, because of course there are figs.

FLOWER CROWNS. To go with the more laidback flair of this event, there will be flower crowns available for everyone. They will look more Christmas-like in spirit, like small little wreaths to go on everyone's heads.

ALCOHOL. Of course, what kind of Solstice or Yule event would it be without alcohol to imbibe? There will be mulled wine available, as well as the delicious apple-flavored beverage of wassail. It seems as if these two things never run out. For anyone avoiding alcohol, there will also be some sparkling grape juice and apple juice.

PSYCHEDELICS. Undoubtedly also inspired by Yule celebrations of old, anyone can partake in some species-specific (and at a safe dosage) amanita. Primarily available as a tea, anyone can drink this pleasant beverage and have a good time together.

MISTLETOE. There will be spots all around the botanical garden where the decorators took good care to make the mistletoe stand out. Surrounded by little lights, no one will be able to miss them. That means they can be easily avoided, if that's what someone would prefer!

BALL PROPRIETOR. While he's not hiding that he put this on, he's just as mysterious as before. If anyone wants to catch his eye at this event, they can. They'll need to stand out to get him to talk to them. To do this, reply below! Ball will definitely be interested in any Displaced trying to catch his eye, but it's still up to them to go through the motions.

> CHRISTMAS

As the Solstice party comes to an end, it'll be time to focus on Christmas itself. Around New Amsterdam, this is a deeply commercial holiday. Since most of New Amsterdam's citizens prefer to celebrate Sinterklaas, the day of Christmas itself largely emphasizes purchasing access to Christmas movies and giving gifts to anyone who had been forgotten earlier in the month. For new couples, Christmas Eve acts as a romantic occasion, giving them the chance to spend some time alone. Restaurants around the city will have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day specials and feasts—though these will be very expensive to enjoy.

> GRINCH INTERLUDE

Once reports start to hit the news about the rapidly healing atmosphere, a strange cypher begins to appear in the replies of people's posts on Cooltalk. This misfire appears at random and without a pattern. While some of the Displaced will get hit on their Cooltalks, they won't be among the majority by any means. How to get ahold of 100342? A reply might do the trick, or it might not. Drop a message in the questions thread with ideas!

Then again, this message more of a simple response to a slight than anything else, most likely recognizable to the displaced, who are familiar with the cipher's formula:

200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518

> FINAL OOC NOTES

Welcome back to the world of New Amsterdam proper, Larkers! This will act as the mingle log for the month of September since we didn't receive any applications this month. In order to plot out some aftermath, please head over to the CR Meme for the month of September! Our September calendar and Event #006 Aftermath are also up for perusing.

If you'd like to get your character in touch with Ball, please reply to the comment below with how they'd like to stand out! Ball, like all of our NPCs, will act as a means to an end to uncover plot details. With the gates excursion on the horizon, we wanted to make him available for all of the playerbase. Due to time constraints, this means that Gaby won't be available for this log.

If you have any questions about event aftermath, please hit the thread on the Aftermath Post here. If you have any questions about this log, go to the questions thread on this post!

> NAVIGATION

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[The worst part is that Riku is fairly certain that he should have an answer. After everything he's been through, this should feel like something that's within his reach. He doesn't show his insecurity, but he's stumped. Or maybe he shouldn't feel insecure. Nothing about this world functions the way he thinks it should.

So, why did they come back? Why did it feel like they woke up? Why was it next to the river of all places, and not their beds? Isn't that where people appear when they're gone? Does this have to do with the disappearances?

No, actually: this stands apart, so they can count that out.]

I don't know. I think it tells us what doesn't happen when someone like Heine or Dawn leave. It tells us that they aren't going to a world like Zerzura. Look at how we got back here. That's not how it's gone for any of us. And I don't think it was set apart to give us a false lead. It doesn't ... feel like that.

[Riku knows it might hurt to mention Heine, but it hurts to mention Dawn. He hasn't even told anyone what it means for him to be gone. Today probably isn't the one where he's going to change that.]

[It does hurt, and for the briefest of moments, she feels that sharp pain in her soul that has started to accompany thoughts about Heine. But Nill is a master of compartmentalization, so she takes that feeling and shoves it into the corner of her mind before it can do something like make her cry again. She's shed more than enough tears over the past couple of weeks when thinking about Heine; she's determined to stop. Old habits die hard.

A few rapid blinks is all it takes to clear her eyes and her head, and she bobs her head in a little nod as he speaks.]

I think you're right. Whatever took us there and brought us back isn't the same thing that brings us here in the first place. I don't remember how I got to this world, but getting to Zerzura was... abrupt. Like I blinked and suddenly I was in that room. Maybe we got back here the same way, but we were all just unconscious for it.

[Which doesn't explain how they're all alive instead of dead, but it's a start. She hasn't really thought about it until now, and while it might be a little bit of a stretch, it makes sense. Even if they were immediately drugged upon arriving in this world, wouldn't they have some kind of recollection of how they got here in the first place?]

I don't know if you caught wind of it, but people there were worried about the world ending. Some wanted to stop it. Others wanted to make sure it happened. [There are echoes of their previous conversation, but Riku is careful. He looks thoughtful before he goes on. He's presented the beginning of his thoughts, but now he's going through them. His lids are heavy, thoughts pushing around in his head while he looks for the right ones.

His head cants ever so slightly to the side so he can look at her.]

Kinda reminds me of what we dealt with here, but on a different level. I can't help but worry about it now.

[Dying felt right. But what does it mean that it felt right?]

Yeah, I remember hearing about it a little.

[Unfortunately, her mind had fallen to Zerzura too quickly for her to learn much, and after she'd been caught, the only things that had mattered to her were school and her friends. For Zerzura's Nill, things like the end of the world were on the furthest backburner of her concerns.

She's trying to sift through her thoughts as well, though she feels like this is a little out of her depth. Despite everything she's seen over the past couple of years, New Amsterdam keeps throwing her curveballs. She runs a hand through her hair, pushing her bangs from her face.]

They said they were able to connect to this world through us.

[She gestures towards her chest, where the blue light they all share lives.]

Even if Zerzura is gone, isn't it possible the connection is still there? Maybe that's why it feels similar.

They talked a lot about whatever was in us, you're right. The funny thing is, I don't think they ever really knew what it was. [Riku doesn't know this for sure. But after dealing with Ansem the Wise, he has his doubts that they were experts in the ways of the Displaced. He thinks that Nill has a point about the conflict. Was it accidental or intentional? Were they brought there to witness that for a reason, though they don't know what that might be just yet?]

I almost wonder if they were hoping that we knew. Does that make sense? They didn't have all the answers, so we'd provide them. [One thing he thinks is that Sora was right. Those people never tried to bring people into its grasp. Instead, the world itself seemed to be influencing the hold. How everyone just—adapted? That was strange. Riku just missed out on it, but there were people who knew him and knew his parents and—

It was very strange.]

[She thinks back, searching through those few unclouded memories, and nods to herself once she realizes he's right. They only ever got half-answers out of the first people they'd met; the displaced had almost immediately been sent out into the city, and Zerzura had taken it from there.]

It does. But I wish they had. I hate not knowing what it is, or why it was put in us.

[She knows some people don't have a problem thinking of their new powers as gifts, but she isn't one of them. Slowly, she's getting used to the idea of having a power at all, and it does make her feel stronger--it's just that she can't move past how she got it.]

Not knowing is a problem because we don't have any control over it, or what's happened to us, or whether we stay or go. [Riku intends to leave when it's time, but he and Sora aren't the type of guys to leave a world in need. He knows that this world is in need. It might not be all heartless causing problems, but that doesn't matter. The world needs help.]

I wish we weren't so mixed up there. But something about us made them bring us over. They were so sure we were important, even if they don't know why. That means it's a clue.

[It means they don't have nothing. They just don't know what the something means yet.]

[That's the most frustrating part of being here for Nill, of being in any new world; she's had no choice in where she's gone. It's a feeling she holds close to her heart, one that's hard for her to let go of and move past. But she's working on it. Coming to New Amsterdam had helped a little. Being reunited with Heine, even if for a short time, had made this particular displacement easier to bear. And now that he's gone, she has other people to help her along, even if she doesn't realize it.]

I'm sure the people who brought us here could tell us. All we have to do is find them.

[There's a wry hint to her expression as she sends the message. It feels like a pipe dream; not even those of them who have been here the longest have come any closer to finding out how they're all displaced from their own worlds.]

Wouldn't it be great if it was just Zerzura that brought us all here in the first place? [Riku knows that it's not the case, but it's his own wry response to hers. Maybe they could've forgotten, or been absorbed, or—or something. He doesn't know.]

Then again, we might never have made it out of there. [He doesn't like what that would mean for him, and he had been in total control of himself in there.]

[Nill exhales harshly, laughing at that. It would have been something else if Zerzura had been the answer to all their questions instead of just giving them more to answer. She doesn't actually know if they're lucky to have escaped that or not. Still, she does know one thing:]

I'll take New Amsterdam over Zerzura any day.

[At least here she can have her own thoughts, control her own actions. What Zerzura had put her through--well, it isn't something she's going to just be able to sweep under the rug, no matter how much she wishes she could.]

For anyone new who shows up, we'll have to tell them that it's not all bad. We could be living in a weird ... alternate world that really wants us to stay. [That had been Sora's theory, anyway, so he sticks with it. It feels right, and it fits his humor at the moment.]

And New Amsterdam's always got something new for us. [He looks off in the distance, where he's certain three new plants already sprouted out of nowhere.

Since they were just sitting here.

So, that's great.]

True. At least we all know who we are here.

[It isn't a bad way to describe it, and Nill bobs her head in agreement. There'd been an unmistakable pull to Zerzura, one she clearly hadn't been strong enough to resist. If they'd stayed there any longer, she isn't sure she'd have been able to escape it at all.

Her gaze follows his to the new plants, and a little smile finds her lips.]

That's going to become a problem soon, I think.

[She gestures towards the plants, which she'd swear are growing even as she types.]

Yeah, I think so. Just another mystery that I bet we have to solve. [After all, it's not as if their return from Zerzura and the green coming afterward seems disconnected. One happened, then the other. He's pretty sure he would've noticed trees and other types of plants swallowing up the fake Christmas trees set up around the city before.

It's kinda hard to miss.]

Though maybe this one isn't so bad? As long as we can close our windows to it, I guess.

[She smiles a little, letting her eyes wander over the garden, now flush with new life. She loves plants, has ever since she found the greenery on the ship, but this is... excessive.]

I hate to tell you, but I've never been very good at solving puzzles.

[Assembling the pieces, yes; Nill is incredibly observant, a byproduct of spending most of her life watching other people interact with one another. But putting those pieces together? Not exactly her forte. And things like this sudden explosion of plant life and the mystery surrounding their arrival here and abduction to Zerzura just seem so out of her depth. But not trying to figure things out won't help, so she'll just have to try, won't she?]

We'll just have to make sure to keep up with pruning. [A beat passes, and she adds:] I don't think I'd mind that as a job.

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of places are hiring someone for the gig. [It's not something that interests him, though maybe if he had his keyblade. Knocking over things with it is part of the job. So, maybe he could cut everything down? Then again, it might not be that even.]

Couldn't hurt as a second job, at least if you needed it.

[Now that he's mentioned it, she actually is considering it. Having another job wouldn't be bad for her--she has a little bit of disposable income, but there's nothing wrong with putting more money away for emergencies. Heine left her quite a bit when he disappeared, but it won't last forever. Nill looks thoughtful, scanning the park overflowing with fresh greenery around them. After a moment, she smiles.]

I think I might look into it. I like being outside, and I've always liked plants. I don't know if it would be permanent, but it could be nice.

I can definitely see you enjoying it. I'm just finishing up what I need to know before I take the exam for the police force, but maybe I can drop by on my way home after I get that going. [If it's outside, it's not like they can keep him from coming around to see how she's doing, right? That's what a friend does, anyway.]

[That brings a smile to her face, and for the first time in a couple of minutes, she turns her head to look at him instead of just glancing from the corner of her eye.]

I'd like that. If I get a job, I'll let you know where I'll be.

[Without letting herself think too much about what she's doing, she reaches out to gently touch his sleeve.]

And good luck on the exam.

Thanks. [He bobs his head forward, a smile crossing his lips.] I was worried about it, but I think I've got a handle on it. A lot of it is logic problems, knowing where the information should stand out. I think I've got that all sorted now. [If anything, it was a matter of relearning the basics of what he knew before.

Riku doesn't do anything about the contact. It seems natural and normal, so there is that, at least.]

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EVENT #006 AFTERMATH LOG

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