august mingle

[stellafortunamods]

August Mingle
Welcome to Teyvat - a vast magical world of adventure.
Happy new year....! In Teyvat, that is. It is now January ingame, and Liyue's people go about their disaster recovery efforts with more vigour than before. After all, Liyue's biggest festival is slated to occur in the latter half of the month - the Lantern Rite!

The Rite of Parting - Rex Lapis' funeral - passes without much incident, and Liyue collectively breathes a sigh of relief. With the Fatui being chased out of the yard, it seems that peace will finally return to the harbour city as they rebuild from the storm. You'll also get to watch three million Mora's worth of incense go up in smoke, so there's that.

Eager to focus on the future, Liyue folk have begun discussing the upcoming festival. The Lantern Rite commemorates hope for a new beginning and continued prosperity, and the construction of the festival centerpiece is currently underway. This year's Mingxiao Lantern will soar into the sky amidst thousands of smaller lanterns, and it will take the shape of a fallen Adeptus to commemorate the Adepti's contribution to Liyue's lasting peace.

Unfortunately, you're not quite out of the frying pan yet. With the Fatui gone from Liyue, the Ministry of Civil Affairs turn their attention to solving another issue that has cropped up after Osial's revival and subsequent defeat. Quite a few miners have gone missing from the Chasm, and the likelihood of finding them will only grow slimmer as the days go by. Both the Millelith and the Adventurers' Guild have pitched in to search for the kidnapped people. All clues lead to Nantianmen - and it's just your luck that Geovishaps and their hatchlings have come out of hibernation at around the same time. These lizard-like beings have shells of solid rock, and they seem especially agitated at having their territory invaded. Solving the mystery of the missing miners will take more than just a day's work.

State of the World

With the Lantern Rite set to open on January 21st, all of Liyue have come to visit the harbour to set up their stalls and pitch in to craft the Mingxiao Lantern. Hopefully the miners are found before the festival begins - the Lantern Rite is a festival of reunions, after all. Not to mention the Geovishaps' increased activity will inadvertently lead to them burrowing around in the rocky mountains. There's a small, but non-zero chance of them hitting an ancient seal somewhere and unleashing a buried threat.

Unless... that was their intention all along?

Please direct all questions to August's OOC post!

Comments

[sufferean]

[That introduction is enough to make Rean stop and blink a couple of times.]

...Vampires are real where you're from? They're just something people write about in books, where I'm from.

[It doesn't sound like Rean doesn't believe him or anything, he's more just... mystified.

Which is to say, yo, that's cool.]

Yeah, I am. I've spoken with him directly a couple of times now. [And every time has been awful! But Trevor probably doesn't care about that.] A couple of months. I've been here since the first influx of travelers back in Mondstadt.

[killtwice]

Vampires aren't fiction. They're real and I've met several of them before. Some of them are huge bastards who need to be killed. It at least looks like you've heard of them somewhat.

[ Trevor has so much experience with vampires but very little experience with other things such as common sense or even manners. He's just so out of place and sticks out among the locals.]

You've been traveling down here for quite a while. Longer than I have that's for sure. Learn anything interesting?

[sufferean]

Yeah. There's a really popular book series all about them, where I'm from, but I can't say I've ever actually... you know... seen one.

[Rean pauses briefly, thoughtfully.]

With all of the stuff I've seen back home, though... I honestly can't say I'd be surprised if your description there was pretty much the case there, too.

[There is SO much magic bullshit. Just... so much.]

But... hm. I guess that depends on how much you know already.

What did Forneus tell you about our goals here?

[killtwice]

Not yet I'm afraid. Forneus was too busy trying to teach me how to use magic and visions.

[ Their current objective is something that Trevor isn't too familiar with at great detail. He's got some ideas but it might have been better to discuss it more. Maybe. ]

Most people tell me they've only heard of vampires in novels. God, fuck I wish life was simple but it's not. What do you want to talk about first? Our goals or the crazy life you're living?

Becoming a billboard must be tough.

[sufferean]

Ha... fair enough, I suppose.

[Yeah, sounds like Forneus to just not talk about the whole deicide thing. Sigh.

Rean may owe Forneus for something right now in another thread, but that won't stop him from judging right now. Or ever, actually.]

I get it, though. It's not vampires, but there's a lot of things that I thought were only legends that, hey, surprise! It turns out they're real, and an active part of my life now!

Wishing it were simple is pretty much what I've been doing daily for the past two years, but here we are.

[Magic bullshit is suffering, Trevor, he gets you.

...As for the billboard remark, he just gives Trevor a deeply unimpressed stare.]

...I'm not even going to dignify that billboard thing with a response. But as for our goals. If you're going to be working with us, you ought to at least know what you're working for.

Forneus intends for us to slay all of the gods here on Teyvat. Himself included, eventually.

And I'll grant you that we know that some of the gods here can be... let's just go with "cruel." [No need to unload a cosmic horror story on the hobo man right now, and also, Rean just doesn't want to think about it.] But I hope you can see things the way I do, that maybe we should exhaust our other options before just jumping straight to murder.

[killtwice]

For fucks sakes this all sounds so terribly familiar somehow.

[ Trevor makes a long suffering sigh and then thinks back on his history for a moment. He's met many monsters, demons, vampires and ghouls in the past but one name in particular stands out to him : Dracula. That's the name of a vampire who went to war with the human race for revenge. If this sounds familiar to Trevor it's because he's encountered something similar. ]

Sometimes you could kill a God once and it doesn't matter because they fucking revive anyway. They're Gods. They don't care about the rules. It's a bit of a pain in the ass if you ask me. I'd rather not go down the long winded and senseless road of brutality and bloodshed.

I'm a warrior and I'm a Belmont, not some hooligan. For generations the Belmonts would slay monsters to protect the people. So that's what I'll do.

Protect the people. I think our views are in alignment here.

[sufferean]

[Rean nods, giving his own long-suffering sigh. He has his own reasons — for him, it all reads far too much like things back home, of being signed up for someone else's war without his consent again.]

Can't say I know anything about how gods work. I'm just a mere mortal trying to do right by the people I share this earth with, regardless of where that may be.

So, yeah. I think we're on the same page. We have to protect these people. And I don't think slaughtering their gods to try to "free" them is how we go about it.

[killtwice]

I'm just a mere mortal too you know. You only live once unless you're a vampire or a god I suppose.

[ Despite everything humans aren't entirely powerless so Trevor intends to do the right thing if he's able to. ]

True freedom is not easily found. If there's another option then we'll take it. If not, then Forneus has to answer for his decisions.

[sufferean]

True enough.

[laughingaloneincanon.jpg]

I can agree with that. I'm going to fight as hard as I can to try to solve this without violence, though.

For once in my life, I want to leave a place better than I entered it.

[killtwice]

A man can always dream but whether you end up making your dream become reality...is something else entirely.

[ The thought of making a place better though actions and words is a nice idea though. ]

You can always call for me if you need an additional fighter. I won't run from a battle and I take it you won't either?

[sufferean]

I know that. [Said with some resignation. Rean's still got his ideals, but his naivete has been pretty thoroughly beaten out of him at this point.] It's all I can do to try, though.

I appreciate it. And no, I won't run away, so feel free to call on me if you need backup, too.

[killtwice]

Alright, cool. Now we can die together and make a series of poor decisions that inevitably lead to a disaster.

[ Trevor may be a little too blunt or sound entirely negative but sometimes that's just the way he is. It's really difficult for him to put his words into a meaningful way but the sentiment is there. He does want to work with Rean.]

What? Do you think this will go smoothly?

[sufferean]

[Rean... actually laughs a little at that.]

Honestly? No. Not at all. But what options do I have? I'm here to help the people of this world. And it's not going to be easy, and it might not work at all, but either we'll get to the outcome I'm hoping for or I'll die trying for it.

That's a chance I'm willing to take.

[He says that entirely too easily. Elsewhere in Teyvat and in several places back in Rean's home world, several people feel the urge to scream and aren't sure why.]

Besides. At this point, I'm pretty sure I can sum up most of the things I've been involved in as "a series of poor decisions that lead to disaster." What's one more?

[killtwice]

Why are you laughing? Why in god's name are you laughing? Do you find this funny? Is making bad decisions humourous? Surely not.

[ It's hard to tell if Trevor's being serious or not when he asks these questions. ]

We won't be able to make advances without taking a risk. I'm sure you're aware of the risks already. Sometimes we have to choose between a bad decision and another bad decision.

[sufferean]

They're a fact of my life, at this point. So is having to choose between a bad option and a worse one. I can either brood over it, or I can accept it and poke fun at myself for it.

[Okay, well, he does brood, but like hell anyone else is going to see that. Especially this guy he just met.]

I don't know about you, but I have to hold myself together somehow. This is how I manage. That's all there is to it.

[killtwice]

I hope you can hold it together somehow. If coping by humor is how you manage, then so be it.

[ Hey, Trevor's not trying to be judgemental about any of this. He can understand the thought of wanting to do things to cope. To simply get by. His gaze wavers somewhat when he thinks of his own position on the matter, but he simply shrugs.]

I'm just a simple man and I hate overcomplicating things. When you survive that's what matters, isn't it?

[sufferean]

Pretty much. You do what you have to do to get by, and hope you make it by in one piece at the end of it.

[...]

And I guess sometimes "what you have to do" is slap missing persons posters on people's back like some kind of weird "kick me" sign, but, hey.

[Rean's hoping to lighten the mood with that little teasing.]

[killtwice]

Exactly!! Although, I will admit I am concerned for the people who've gone missing as of late. Just trying to get the word out and doing my duty.

[ That's what they usually say, isn't it? He can't recall the exact phrasing too well. ]

Somebody might know something about it. I'm still checking around these areas. You've got an extra pair of eyes I could use.

[sufferean]

Oh, I am, too. That's why my next stop is out into the field to see if I can find any clues as to where they've gone.

If I find anything else in town on my way out, though, I know who I'll head to first thing.

[killtwice]

If you're going out into the fields for clues let me go too.

[ He wants to do a little investigation himself. Trevor's hoping to find something other than the missing miners. It would be great if they could learn something more about their situation at large too. Having Rean might help.]

There's no time to waste. I fear our situation may take a turn for the worse if we're not careful.