stellafortunalogs | JANUARY MINGLE

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Honestly, it isn't often that humans needle him. The last one to do it...probably the ever irreverent Hu Tao. Mostly in Liyue he is feared and avoided, for all that people leave him offerings.

It suits Xiao, he thinks. When he thinks of it.

The friendless accusation doesn't rattle him. It has always seemed to be more of a human concept to him. They tie one another together in such strange and desperate ways, so many words for different degrees of knots and tangles. Xiao once had comrades, and perhaps he might have called them friends -

But they're long since dead, now. ]

If you need to pretend to have friends, I wouldn't say you have them.

[well! he was talking about their friendless main character (and thus xiao by extension), but—okay, okay. friends.]

And I wouldn't disagree.

[even though kaeya's friendships are kind of... well, you know what? it's not about him! don't @ him!! shit's complicated when you are secretly [redacted].]

I take it our antihero has few friends, then?

[he's going to say antihero as many times as he can, just because. suffer. but as he looks back at xiao, canting his head to the side:]

[ If Kaeya can @ him he can @ Kaeya, it's the Law. Honestly...

...Xiao doesn't know the answer to that. Surely calling Rex Lapis "friend" is something he cannot dare, and as to the other Adepti...they're comrades in arms, certainly, but they can go decades without crossing paths and Xiao never seeks them out without cause. ]

Your kind would more enjoy a story about a true hero. Perhaps one of the Seven.

[this is mondstadt, baybee! kaeya is free to do as he pleases, sans repercussions—and kaeya also sees this subject change, sir. not sneaky in the slightest; almost certainly deserving of ridicule, actually, but while kaeya enjoys pushing others, kaeya knows when to (temporarily) back away. time to cross his arms, lazily lifting one shoulder in a sort of half-shrug.]

Oh, I'm sure there are enough of those. We're looking for something that will stand out, aren't we?

[mr. mingle nods! probably throws in a comment about, like, cornering an undiscovered corner of the market.]

We humans like to connect with characters. An antihero with few friends—why, that could be anyone! That's what makes them interesting. [hmmMMM—] And who knows? Maybe they secretly want to make new friends in new places.

[ Honestly, he doesn't even see himself as an antihero. Xiao is a weapon - nothing more or less. If he performs any acts of heroism, the praise is deserved by Rex Lapis. If he sins...

The consequences for that he will bear alone. ]

If someone wanted to make friends, they would. Perhaps what this "antihero" wants is to do away with meddlesome sorts.

[this is the term kaeya has chosen, and this is the term kaeya will use! he's annoying like that, albeit for a reason. always looking to provoke... always tracking reactions...

anyway, time for yet another laugh. haha, sir.]

It seems our friend is taking this commission quite seriously. Jumping right into the story... oh, such talent.

[thanks for acting ic, xiao. way to really larp this guy. all this earns you is... a bit more teasing, because hey:]

Tell us, then: what is our character looking for? A whirlwind romance? A short, but passionate affair?

[mr. mingle did say he's looking for some help with the romance, so you know. enjoy being put on the spot like this, bud.]

[ Xiao's interest in romance is like, negligible. Even if it did occur to him with someone, would he believe he deserved it? Unlikely,

There's a short sigh. ]

That's a terrible motivation. If your antihero is a loner, connections with others will not be his goal.

[bruh! this commission is all about the romansu! kaeya is merely doing them both a favor (while having a bit of fun in the process), and thus kaeya shakes his head.]

Come now! Maybe he's tired of being alone? Maybe he just isn't sure how to go about changing that.

[so you come somewhere new, and you meet people who have no idea who or what you are, and...]

[ Kaeya's just getting a blank stare. Xiao would have preferred the non romance book options... ]

Some people prefer solitude. But if you want to write yourself some sordid human romance, go ahead.

[and yet he's tackling this commission with kaeya, of all people. probably let kaeya chat with mr. mingle before this whole thing started, and thus—romance.]

Sordid. [pfh.] You know, you do remind me of someone. I should introduce you.

[diluc and xiao, sitting in silence... it's a funny thought, at least. the energy would be unreal.]

Everyone wants someone to understand them? It's simply a matter of finding that person. [hmm.] For our character, of course.

[ Kaeya, stop taking an interest in brooding loners. Xiao snorts, though. ]

I suppose you think a character like you would be be up to that challenge?

[ His tone is so dry as he recrosses his arms over his chest. Perhaps this is where he differs from Diluc: he won't walk off to get away from Kaeya. The contract he made keeps him in place, even if he isn't much amused by Kaeya's antics as of yet. ]

[that's like telling kaeya to stop breathing, lbr. but ah, turning it back around on him! a chuckle, accompanied by a short shake of his head.]

Basing a character on myself? Oh, I don't think so. That's entirely too much attention.

[says the peacock, whose everything just begs for attention. he's well aware of the irony here—and he's also aware that picking apart people like xiao does require people like him? in that people must be up to the challenge. it's a game, of sorts; it requires sharp eyes and a sharp mind, but—]

I'll leave crafting this character to you.

I'm not the one who wants this person to have a romance.

[ In fact, it's the opposite... ]

I'm not even sure what one is supposed to look for in a human for such things.

[the less someone wants something, the more kaeya wants it to happen? it's generally interesting™ that way, so, pleasantly:]

Oh, I'm sure you'll do just fine. Are we humans so different from your kind?

[like, what are you.]

You are short-lived with strange tastes.

[ He means that literally. What the fuck is most of the shit you guys eat. ]

JANUARY MINGLE

his true illuminated beast form

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