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

[joies]

Hmhm, I understand that feeling. [Her words end with another gentle chuckle, immediately perking up more so at the invitation. Not hesitating to accept with a grateful nod as she slides into the seat across from Ganyu, pleased to have some company.]

Thank you very much! Exploring the town is nice, but I much prefer the company of others. [Because she's also part of the "really old and really lonely" club oops.]

But I forget my manners, my name is Persephone! It's a pleasure to meet you.

[reglaze]

I've become accustomed to both solitude and companionship, but I have to admit the latter is more desirable overall. [She smiles softly, privately recalling some event that helped her to this realization.]

Ganyu. The pleasure is mine as well. [Since this woman appears to be rather easy going, Ganyu figures it's safe to bring up a certain topic that's caught her attention.]

I, um, I really like your hairpiece. [Horns. She means horns.]

[joies]

[Her expression melts into something more sympathetic, humming under her breath as she nods. Though it's not something she dwells on, considering she's just met her.

That question gets a blink though, but her answers comes immediately;]

Oh, thank you! But these aren't a hairpiece, they're my horns. Usually a variety of flowers would bloom on them, but that can't happen right now. [Just. Says that very casually, still beaming at the other woman.]

I'm not human, I'm afraid. Though may I ask...? [She motions her head to Ganyu's own... hairpiece.]

[reglaze]

[Eyes widen, and her lips part just enough to convey something akin to revelation making its way on to her features. It's as obvious as the nose on her face that Persie's words hit somewhere deep inside Ganyu, in the best way possible.]

Oh... Oh! I see! [The young(?) woman claps her hands together, more animated than before. It's like there's a bit of new life in her.]

Yes, horns. These are mine. ... obviously. Um-! I'm only half-human myself. I've never met anyone else with uh... similar features to mine. Not in this way.

[joies]

[It's a surprise to see her words hit so deeply, but it also makes her smile brighten into something else - something less polite friendliness, and something more genuine. So she's not seen someone like herself before... That sounds so lonely, and it stirs something in Persephone as well.]

I... was human once, but that changed many years ago. [Not something she would say to most, but she wants to extend that tidbit of trust to Ganyu.]

But I'm very glad we've met, in that case. And I hope you won't mind me keeping you company more in the future.

[reglaze]

Yes, I would like that very much! [The veiled but true offer of companionship is something Ganyu all but jumps at, something not often extended to her in such a genuine way. Any pretense of civility and politeness is shed in favor of sheer delight at the idea.

Any nuances of her statement about having been human before are lost, though she does register the fact.]

Well, changes happen, sometimes for the better. I hope that's the case here. [Whether she means Persie's own or their entire situation in Mondstadt is hard to tell, and chances are that Ganyu isn't completely sure herself.]