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

Nothing too strenuous or invasive. [Albedo has no intention of intentionally inflicting harm upon Raen, after all.] I wish to observe you using your Vision, and if you have any unusual powers or abilities from your own world, see or at least hear about those for comparison. Seeing how elements in this world interact with you and other travelers may provide information about how so many of you came to be here all at once and give further insight into how Visions function.

[Well, that certainly seems reasonable. Certainly moreso than "hey, run through this dungeon, also we through a legendary creature at the end to try to murder you and your students, have fun." At least, Rean's just going to hope that this man's definition of "nothing strenuous" wouldn't include something like that.]

Ah, okay. That definitely sounds like something I can do for you. I'm after information as to why we're all here myself, so I'm happy to help.

Anything in particular you need me to use my Vision on?

[...He doesn't want to touch on the "other abilities" yet.]

[ Well...... if he's up for it, Albedo might ask Raen to fight a few slimes, mainly to test elemental reactions. But c'mon, man, they're slimes. ]

Thank you. And... not at this time, though I can set up a target if you need one. First, however, if I could have your name and the element of your Vision...?

[ Albedo pulls a notebook and writing implement from his pocket to note this down. ]

[Rean can do that. He's fought his fair share of icky oozes. What's a few more?]

That might be helpful— huh? Oh, um, sure.

I'm Rean Schwarzer. My Vision is ice— err, wait. You guys call it "Cryo," right?

[He's learning.]

[a nod, as Albedo notes down the name and draws a quick cryo symbol]

Yes, although it would be more correct to say that Cryo is the element of cold. After all, while all ice contains Cryo energy, not everything suffused with Cryo energy is necessarily ice.

[He puts the writing implement and notebook away for the moment.]

Come with me - there is an area behind the Knights of Favonius headquarters where we store a few striking dummies for training purposes.

[It's really not a far walk, but they'll have to go up at least one or two flights of stairs to get there.]

...Right, that makes sense.

[Rean seems a little embarrassed to be corrected, but he knows well enough that one never really stops learning. He'll just be sure to file that information away for the future!

As for heading toward the dummies, Rean nods and follows dutifully behind Albedo. Thankfully, Rean's definitely got stamina, so a couple of flights of stairs are nothing to him.]

Fair warning, I doubt my usage of my Vision will be particularly impressive.

Don't worry - this isn't a test you can pass or fail. It's simply a way to gather data as a starting point.

[Luckily, no one is currently using the space, so Albedo busies himself with setting up two striking dummies. Then he steps back.]

Whenever you're ready.

[But he can fail it in his mind, Albedo!]

...All right. Here goes nothing.

[At first, he makes an attempt to fire off some sort of attack at the training dummy, and... well, he manages to fire a couple of tiny ice shards? But they're of a size and density that they'd definitely just mildly irritate someone sooner than cause any damage.

Seeing how well that goes, Rean tries another tactic, which is to just freeze over the other dummy. That definitely goes over better, although it's hardly a sheet of ice. It's just kind of frosty by the time Rean decides it's probably not going to get any better from here and lets himself relax.]

...Well. I tried.

[Albedo watches with rapt attention, engaging the elemental sight afforded by his Vision to better analyze the flow of elemental energy, and at the end of it, he nods.]

Very good. Thank you. [He is completely sincere - Raen has only had his Vision for, what? A few days? A week at best? Even managing this much on top of adjusting to suddenly being in an entirely new world is good.] Everything appears normal.

Aha... thanks, but I'm not sure I can agree with the "very good" part.

[Sigh...]

Although, if everything appears normal... I can only imagine that my skills with this will increase the more I use it, yeah?

[Read: Will he suck less if he practices?]

[A nod.]

As with most things in life, practice will help. And you are doing well for having only just acquired your Vision.

[He is sure to emphasize that, as it seems like Raen needs encouragement.]

I am certain with time and effort, you will grow more accustomed to letting the elemental energy flow through you and learn to shape it more to your will.

JANUARY MINGLE

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject