JANUARY MINGLE

[stellafortunamods]

January Mingle: A Ballad in Goblets
Welcome to Teyvat - a vast magical world of adventure.
You open your eyes to an unfamiliar sight. A cool breeze flits through rustic buildings and sunny streets, carrying the smell of flowers and wine. The very air itself seems charged with mana, the warm pulse of the land palpable beneath your feet. This is a new world, a world where the elements compose all of reality. Before you is a bubbling fountain, and a key is entwined between your fingers. And that weight on your hip? A sparkling bauble that you've never seen before, yet it feels natural, as if it had always been there.

Asking around nets you the name of this world - Teyvat - and the name of this city - Mondstadt, blessed by the Anemo Archon, Barbatos. Your new home is accessible with the key placed in your hands, though this also brings to mind another question. How will you get money? Food isn't free, after all.

Luckily for you, there's plenty of jobs available for the enterprising Traveler. Be it taking requests from the Adventurers' Guild, or working part-time at one of Mondstadt's many food establishments, Mora is to be had when hard work is involved. The cuisine of Mondstadt is best paired with its wine, served at bars or enjoyed in private with a few friends.

And about that shining gem. locals will tell you that it is a Vision, a sign of favour from Teyvat's elemental gods. With the Vision on hand, you find yourself capable of commanding one of the seven elements. What will you do with this newfound blessing? Use it for good... or for evil?

Mondstadt's liveliness doesn't diminish when night falls. Bards sing through the wee hours of the night, and the lights of the city help keep most evildoers at bay. All seems peaceful, a pastoral idyll of a life that seems more at home in a storybook. Yet for those Travelers who venture out beyond the city's walls and into the ruins dotting the landscape, they may discover hints of a bloodier past now forgotten.

Glancing at any of the calendars in the city will tell you the current date. August 10th was the day you arrived. As soon as the last minute of August 16th slips away, the world around you changes. A blink, and time itself rewinds by seven days. Looking outside, the mown lawns have regrown, the windmill needs fixing again, and the well is once again full. Just what is happening here? It seems only you, Traveler, remembers the week that never was.

State of the World

For the first two weeks of the game, IC time will be looping from August 10th to August 16th. It's currently late summer in Mondstadt, and the trees are just beginning to turn out their autumn colours. The weather is cool and pleasant, with light showers on Tuesday (11th) and Friday (14th). It's also a good time to go out gathering berries and nature's bounty from Mondstadt's forests and valleys.

These two weeks will let us trial out our commissions and regains system and craft improvements for February onwards. There will be no activity requirements for January, so all threads started during this time period can be used for regains!

For all questions regarding January's mingle and events, please head over to our OOC post.

Comments

[extinctive]

[ sounds like a yes to him! the way his face just lights up at the prospect of company... ]

You warned me about the rain, so I almost thought you’d stop me from climbing out. All right, that makes two glasses.

[ because of course xiao should join him for drinks. he grabs another one from the table before peeking his head out of the window and stepping onto the windowsill, carefully making his way out. he doesn’t seem too afraid of falling, looking as he’s done this before with his sense of balance. ]

[vayuda]

I meant it wasn't a good idea to open your window and let the rain in.

[ If Figaro WANTS to be out in the rain, that's totally fine, though. ]

Some of your things might be ruined.

[ ...Oddly considerate of him...? ]

[hangfire]

[There's a crack in his composure, slight but noticeable, Albedo's question one that he hadn't been prepared to answer. A retort, sure, or perhaps more pointless drivel.

Not this.

He swallows roughly, silent, as though waiting for Albedo to crack some sort of joke. But it doesn't come, and his anger deepens with a subtle sense of hurt.]

What else would I be to people like you?

[He shoves his collar up against his neck as he takes a couple steps back.]

Look, just leave me alone. Keep those kinds of stupid questions to yourself before other people hear you... spirits, and if you're going to bother studying shit that in depth, at least go find someone that will pay you to do it.

You're wasting it.

[All said without any eye contact, because the second the last syllable spits out of his mouth, he's immediately starting to walk away.]

[hwisal]

[ i'm sorry are you insinuating these two are not good at acknowledging reality, what heresy is this

well. maybe it was too much to ask for, for Seonho to have gotten lucky and picked up some info Hwi hadn't. are they really in the dark...? maybe they don't have any choice but to bide their time. this is so far out of the norm -- he isn't sure where to begin, but...

instead of dwelling on any of that, ]

Why do I feel the more we talk about, the less you say?

[ JUST.

.......just putting that out there. ]

[hwisal]

[ jun??? what kind of logic is this!! you're the one gatekeeping the good deets!! you lil snake... ]

Oh, so I'm not the first to tell you this. [ somehow: not shocking ] Do you enjoy giving others a hard time? [ he is mostly teasing

...mostly. ]

[whiteshroud]

[he can tell it's teasing! And thus...]

Hm...

I'll leave that up to you to figure out.

[In other words, yes. Yes he does]

[eolja]

[LOOK......... hwi's right, but also]

It's not important. At the end of the day, what I experienced in that place isn't relevant to the situation here.

[trauma??? we're gonna Repress That. Friends?? We're also gonna repress that, anyway]

The only thing is that there are others from that town who woke up in this place, but some of them don't even remember that they were there. [SO IT'S EVEN LESS RELEVANT!!! seonho can't believe that he still has to remember --] It might as well have been a dream. You said it yourself, Hwi, that you didn't even notice that I was gone.

[eolja]

[i always forget that edward is technically rich and i lose my shit every time]

Like this? Do you mean with your own two hands?

[edward do u really have powers

or are u just filthy rich and have servants (pensive)]

[redbellion]

Yeah, not a bad idea.

[ Keith will follow Minako to the windmill, then! ]

I think there's something going on here that's more than just a broken windmill in need of repairs.

[extinctive]

[ figaro pauses as if to consider xiao’s words and just... closes the window after him. ]

There! Problem solved. [ no shit ] Come on, I bet the view’s nice at the very top.

[rhapsodical]

What? Nothing you can't do?

[ The disbelief is palpable in her voice as she squints at him, deeply perturbed. It shouldn't be as weird as it is considering how many all-powerful beings she travels with aboard the Grandcypher, but when it's coming from a kid who's like....twelve, it just feels wrong. ]

Seriously? You could take this whole town out?

[ She doesn't believe him. ]

knifes him while he's in the air

[rhapsodical]

[ It's cute that he's trying so hard to rope her into this too. Well, it's not like she's going to weasel her own way out of this after working so hard to get him to participate so fine, she will happily link arms with him as they wait for the bride to finish her waving and smiling.

Unfortunately, she does have to be brutally honest about one thing. ]

Sure, but you're not really my type. Sorry.

[ At least she said it with a smile and a healthy dose of good cheer in her voice?? Please don't be depresso about it, Seonho. ]

Hey speaking of, what is your type? So I can make sure to take a good look around after you catch that bouquet.

[ She's kidding................or is she? ]

wow ok aggressive tbh,

[hwisal]

[ Hwi is ranged, he's not worried, Seonho'll be fine... he's a resilient guy!! how many times has he gotten stabbed and/or cut up at this point without kicking the bucket,

seeing the signal - four - he leans in to Lucas, a little. ]

You know, it isn't too late to turn around before they see us. Maybe get a drink in town? I'm sure he will manage by himself.

[ .....is he joking?



h-haha ]

it shall be immortalized here, in the annals of history

[hwisal]

It is definitely unusual. [ he reassures Serpico with an encouraging and sympathetic look that he isn't the only one who finds this whole thing Weird, for sure - Hwi has no magical experience whatsoever, and it's taken more than a little suspending of his disbelief to absorb "Visions" and being in another world and all it entails. ]

But luckily, this task should be simple enough. We shouldn't need to use these 'Visions' to do some mining, right? [ haha right guys? it's fine that they're all newbies, haha, right? totally fine? nothing will go wrong, ]

[hwisal]

[ Hwi can literally FEEL that look... does Zhongli really not know the creeping dread of a Woman's Wrath...

he's leaning in a bit more, nudging his head subtly in Sara's direction, and keeping his voice low: ]

Is that your wife? If so, I think you are in trouble.

[hwisal]

[ sometimes it's really lame to have a conscience. really lame, right? lame.

...but her blunt threat is. kind of hilarious?? listen, if that bard is still here after they have drinks then... he leaves it in the hands of fate. He Tried, etc etc. ]

Deal. [ ana and hwi are arrested for assault later that evening, please tune in to the 11pm news for more details ]

I'm Hwi of the Seo family. It's good to meet you, by the way. [ if they're going to drink, they should probably do introductions, right? he's giving a polite bow of his head toward her; they can head in and escape this TERRIBLE BACKDROP of painful noise any second... ]

[hwisal]

Because you were not gone. [ does he sound a tad petulant... he is?? shh don't perceive him!! he definitely would've noticed if Seonho had gone missing, alright? especially for three months!! this magic mumbo jumbo really offends his sensibilities!!!!

but he realizes that's not the point Seonho's trying to make, and thus continues (less petulantly) a moment later. ]

If you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to. [ 'relevant' or not... he had been somewhere vaguely like this place for three months. that was a lot, right...? he has a feeling it wasn't as 'uneventful' as he's making it seem, either...

n-not that he cares or anything, baka...

never mind the unspoken, 'but we can' that goes after his last statement, though, ]

[sufferean]

[Wait no hold on that's not the weather that's awesome.]

You... turned into a dragon?! [Come on, he JUST found out about talking cats turning into people!] That's some magic!

[But hm, fishing. Rean looks at the water thoughtfully.]

I don't know that our powers will be enough to freeze much of it. I could try to help you out, though.

[He says, with a fishing rod, just ignoring the obvious answer here.]

[sufferean]

[Rean laughs a little at that, clearly a bit embarrassed.]

Haha, yeah. I just graduated myself not that long before I got enlisted for my new position, so it's pretty surprising even for me.

It's kind of hard to try to play a role model for kids who are usually maybe three years younger than me. But it's rewarding, too.

[sufferean]

I can say the same for you!

[Rean will hold off on saying any more until the hilichurl stragglers are all dealt with. It is pretty simple with their numbers dwindling, and eventually, it's just the two of them.

With a sigh of relief, Rean sheaths his sword.]

...All right. I think we've got them. Thanks for the help. That definitely would have been a little hairy if it were just me.

[sufferean]

[Rean sees that mouth opening and immediately does as he is told.

Normally, his instinct would be to run, but at this point, it's a bit late for that. So, the best he can do here is simply not watch his own head get bitten off—

Oh sweet goddess that is not biting.

But hey, after a bit, he's all clean and dry! ...And his hair feels distinctly poofier than spiky, which is weird, but mostly Rean is just kind of mystified that that worked and that also he is not dead.]

...H...uh. That...

...Thank you.

[He's pretty visibly at a loss for words.]

...I'm sorry for threatening you. [That's a start. Who... are you exactly? [And what are you, although he doesn't say it.]

wow i'm sorry for my font for ants, i don't know how i missed that

[sufferean]

[Oh! That's super useful, actually. Rean is fast, certainly, able to pretty nimbly dodge whatever attacks he might be drawing from the big guy. But the wind assist is definitely making that job easier, throwing off the creature's balance and giving Rean openings.]

Thanks!

[From there, it's probably just a matter of teamwork making the dream work, with Rean unleashing a flurry of cuts between gusts of wind and doing his best to stay out of harm's way.

Once it's all over, he definitely needs to take a moment to breathe, bending at the waist a little in exertion before taking a deep breath, straightening up, and sheathing his blade.]

That was close. Are you all right?

[sufferean]

[Rean can say the same! But he's just trying to roll with the punches, even if it's definitely a bit strange on the tongue for him.]

Can't say I've heard of that place... but then again, I'm betting you haven't heard of Erebonia, either.

[Rean pulls out a chair and takes his seat as well, hailing someone for some menus before continuing.]

Yeah, I did. And I've got the same story as everyone else... one second I was dozing off grading papers, the next I was here. It's all just bizarre.

[sufferean]

[Honestly, not the first time Rean's heard that combination. Try living with a perpetually infuriated, highly-caffeinated nerd for a year.

But yeah, it's... really not that bad out there, so Rean sounds pretty earnestly confused in response.]

...I... might get kind of wet...?

[sufferean]

[Oh, he's coming off stiffly, isn't he? He hadn't really intended for that, he's just... well...

Weirded out.]

Ah, um. Sorry. [Rean's trying to keep up. What he lacks in boundless energy he at least makes up for in long legs.] I'm just still trying to adjust to things here, so... I guess I just kind of clam up when I'm nervous.

Where are we going?