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

Valvatorez | Cryo | OTA

[omegathree]

I. Fishing

[It's not like this guy really needs a lot of food, or really needs to buy anything. Especially because he's sure he found a whole bunch of fish in the lake. He can't be certain they're sardines- in fact most of them seem far too large to be his favorite fish- but he hasn't gotten a real job and he's hungry.

Tragically what he doesn't know is he can't breathe underwater anymore. There's some splashing, some startled noises, and he comes back up to shore looking like a drowned bat.]

II. Fishing part 2

[The thing on his hip is called a Vison. A sign of favor from the Gods- He doesn't need outside help to strengthen himself, but ever since arriving, it seems his usual powers are lost to him.

And damnit, he wants fish.

He holds it in his hands and does his best to freeze over a section of the lake.

It may frost over, but he's hardly strong enough to properly freeze it.]

There must be some way to do this...

III. Wildcard

[For anything else you'd like to do with Val.]

I

[beatnest]

Haha, are you trying to become a fish?

[ Byakuya had only caught the tail end of Val's adventure, but he's here to be a loud unwelcome peanut gallery anyway. ]

[omegathree]

What? Of course not! And if I was going to become a fish, I would prefer to be a strong and noble sardine instead of a bass. [Sardines, that tiny, weak fish. Yes, he did call them strong and noble.]

I was simply attempting to gather some rations. It seems like the moment I stepped into this world I've lost some of my powers.

[beatnest]

Ehh? I thought sardines were weak and tiny. [ Slow blink, because it wouldn't be the first time he got fish mixed up but he's pretty sure in this case? ]

It happened to you too, huh? [ Pout. ] It's really annoying...what did you lose?

/2

[omegathree]

Just because they're small does not mean they are weak! Such small fish are full of necessary nutrients like omega three fatty acids!

[omegathree]

Yes. It seems I now need to breathe underwater, as well as all of my shapeshifting capabilities. It's a shame, but nothing I'm unable to work around.

Yourself?

[beatnest]

Woah, they mean a lot to you huh? [ A small shake of his head. ] Well, they are pretty tasty.

[ Moving on from fish, there's a glint in his eyes. ]

Oh? Could you turn into anything? I lost my...claws, and even some of my appetite, haha.

[omegathree]

Thank you! It's wonderful to meet somebody else who understands the charm of such a mighty fish.

Not anything. Just bats and a dragon. ["Just" he says. He's very casual when he's lamenting his losses.]

[beatnest]

No problem? I just like them as snacks. [ He still doesn't get it but he'll accept the thanks anyway. ]

A dragon...could you breathe fire and fly?

[omegathree]

Still! Most people don't even understand how wonderful such tiny creatures are!

I could fly but I certainly do not breathe fire. Now or ever.

[beatnest]

Haha, well a lot of people are narrow-minded. [ Byakuya is totally still talking about sardines, yes. ]

Aww, no fire? Well what else could you do then?

[omegathree]

It's something that can be fixed with effort.

Scream.

[The way that bats do, of course!]

[beatnest]

Don't you mean roar?

[ Still thinking bout the dragon motif here. ]

[omegathree]

Roar? Have you ever heard a bat roar?

II

[sufferean]

[There's probably other supplies that mora could be spent on here, but it's probably not surprising to anyone who knows Rean that once he realized there was a lake here, he spent a good chunk of time pulling together the funds for at least a meager fishing rod. And he's coming down to the lake with it to try to unwind a little, but there's... a bit of a distraction.]

Hey, there. [A simple called-out greeting, trying to get Valvatorez' attention without frightening him.] Need any help over there?

[omegathree]

Oh? Hello there, lad.

[He waves from the lake. He doesn't even come over to greet Rean.]

Have you figured out how these "visions" work?

[sufferean]

[That's fine, Rean will come over to him. This guy is clearly busy, Rean wouldn't expect him to drop everything!]

Um... to an extent, yeah. [He readjusts his fishing pole.] It's still weird for me, but I'm starting to get the hang of it—

[It's then that he looks down at the water and sees it frosting over.]

Oh! You have ice powers here, too?

[omegathree]

You as well?

[He holds up his ice vision.]

Ice isn't usually my domain- magic isn't really much of what I do at home. But as they say- adapt or die. [He sounds so chipper.]

[sufferean]

Yeah.

[Rean lifts up the vision at his hip, then lets it fall back to rest.]

Can't say it's my domain, either. I had... a limited access to magic at home... but I specialized in fire. So it's pretty unnatural for me still.

But it's like you said, we have to adapt.

[Rean doesn't seem too fazed by the chipperness, thankfully. It's not like anything he's saying is wrong!]

So, what are you trying to do with it?

[omegathree]

[He'll hook his back to his waist. As long as it's there he feels a little safer. Even if ice is still beyond him.]

I turned into a dragon.

[He moves on like it's as simple as the weather.]

I was trying to freeze over enough of the lake so I could collect some fish. What do you think? Pretty good plan, huh?

[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.]

[omegathree]

I can't at the moment. [Back to level one! Again!

What's the obvious answer here? Clearly it's just freeze the lake.]

We don't need to freeze all of it. Just the places where you can see the fish.

[sufferean]

Yeah... I've heard about powers being stripped here. Still, that sounds interesting.

[Rean, like the brilliant young man he is, sets down his supplies and moves closer to try to help out.]

Let's see... maybe let's try to focus on this area. They seem to think something's interesting over here.

[Rean walks a couple paces away and extends his hands over the water, closing his eyes to focus. This is how mages do cool stuff, right? That's what he's read about in his fantasy novels.

By himself, he's not developing any more than a light frost, either. But maybe with two of them...?! as the obvious answer sits there, uselessly,]

[omegathree]

[Between the two of them, they have none braincells. The fishing rod and Rean's other supplies lay abandoned because the only answer to problems is... powers.

Val doesn't have a staff to channel his powers through so he figures Rean probably has the right of it. Here they go!

The manage to frost more area- but the fish are perfectly able to simply swim away.]

[sufferean]

[Hm! This is an unexpected problem!]

Hm... looks like we're gonna need a way to better trap them. Wonder if there's a smaller area we could try to lure them to? Then maybe make some kind of ice barrier to keep them trapped in that smaller area?

[Rean's freshly-bought fishing rod is offended right now, honestly.]