FEBRUARY MINGLE

[stellafortunamods]

February Mingle: The Outlander Who Caught The Wind
Welcome to Teyvat - a vast magical world of adventure.
Life in Mondstadt seems to never change. Each day unfolds similarly to the next, and the clock turns back every seven days. Just what is happening here? Is there ever any hope for the Travelers to find a way home? Slowly, the questions that have been burning in everyone's minds will be answered The fate of all that lives in Teyvat is written in the stars - only you, Traveler, are free from the shackles of destiny.

As Travelers wake up to August 13th for the third time, nothing seems to have changed. However, a windstorm blankets all of Mondstadt in the afternoon, whipped up by the wings of a large dragon. As civilians scatter and the Knights attempt to restore order, a voice calls out to you from the darkened sky.

"Come fly with me. The winds of freedom will clear away the storm."

An updraft carries you and your Wind Glider into the air, where you can take aim at the dragon without hindrance. However, your attacks seem to focus on the purple spikes that torment the dragon's body. From whence did they come?

At the behest of the Acting Grand Master, you venture out into Mondstadt's wilds to stem the flow of power fueling Stormterror's rampage. Perhaps you may come to know of Stormterror's past - once a protector of the city, now turning his back on the nation he once loved. What broke the dragon's heart? Could he have truly turned dark once and for all?

Whatever path you choose to walk, it soon becomes evident that your actions do have an impact on the world. August 17th arrives gracefully, and the people of Mondstadt turn their attention to the arduous task of reconstruction. Helping to patch up the city's beautiful neighbourhoods piece by piece will earn you the citizens favour and a good amount of Mora.

When the dust settles, peace returns to Mondstadt... for the most part. The howling of wolves can be heard in the depths of the night - a territorial dispute in the dark forests of Wolvendom has spilled over into neighbouring Springvale. The order in Wolvendom is kept by the will of Lupus Boreas - all wolves who reside in Mondstadt must obey Andriu's code. The foreign pack heed not his words, hunting above their share and attacking human hunters.

Yet all wolves look the same to outsiders unfamiliar with their code, and the residents of Springvale are all too willing to blame all of wolfkind. Who will listen to the voice of the wolves? Will blood be spilled on these untamed lands once more? Only time will tell.

State of the World

For the first week of February, IC time will continue the time loop from January: that is, looping once more from August 10th to August 16th. ICly, the tasks in our main quest will be completed by characters before Sunday ends. Once Monday rolls around once more, they’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that the date has advanced to August 17th. The second to fourth weeks of February will be spent looping from August 17th to August 23rd, and characters will have plenty of new things to do in the new time period.

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

Comments

2-A

[whiteshroud]

[Jun has a bit more experience with flying, granted in a different way and in much shorter bursts. But it's enough where he's not struggling so much as...this poor soul. Oh.

He tries yelling over the wind]

Don't flail around! You'll make yourself lose the draft!

[nailpolished]

[ HE DOES NOT WANT TO BREAK, SPARE HIM - ]

Why are we flying?! [ Why is this even a thing! He likes being on the ground!! ]

[whiteshroud]

Have to reach the dragon somehow!

[You know, the one attacking the town!]

[nailpolished]

This is the WORST way to travel! [ Full offense, Venti. But okay, he's not flailing...he's trying to figure out how the fuck to steer himself...god, so many of the others would super enjoy this, but Kashuu is not about this life. Luckily he's just on task enough to know they do have to reach the dragon...

He'll just complain as they go...this is the WORST... ]

[whiteshroud]

Haha, I can think of a way that's worse...! [Which may be foreshadowing. Or not! We'll see.]

Use the updrafts to your advantage, and tilt yourself slightly in the direction you want to go!

[He'll throw that bit of advice but then continue to flying upwards and ahead. He seems real determined to reach that dragon.]

[nailpolished]

Ye-es...!

[ At least this random guy seems to know what he's doing, because Kashuu is no aviator. He is intuitively inclined to combat so he'll be somewhat more helpful with that... ]

Do you have a plan for when we catch up?!

[ But also: how much are they winging this, man. ]

[whiteshroud]

[Well JUN has a plan at least. One that he says with zero hesitation.]

We're jumping on it!

[Buckle up Kashuu we're playing Shadow of the Colossus now]

[nailpolished]

[ How does he get off this wild ride! Without jumping!

Damn you, mysterious wind and voice. ]

- Fine! I'm gonna take this out on that crystal!

[ His frustrations, he means. ]

[whiteshroud]

Good! That's our target!

[So yes please wail on the crystal. Jun will focus on the flying now, catching another updraft that'll bring him above the dragon. When he's sure that he's got the trajectory right, he'll shout out]

- Now!

[Then immediately he closes up his glider wings and lets himself plummet down. He seems in complete control of his fall, landing on the dragon's back with an almost inhuman level of grace and grabbing onto some ridging on one of the scales so he can't be thrown off.]

[nailpolished]

[ Jun isn't alone with the inhuman grace. While Kashuu doesn't look happy about plummeting, he's decent enough at mid combat acrobatics to orient himself and land neatly.

And he's even doing it in high heeled boots. So there. He pulls his blade out immediately, going in for the attack. He's not sure his element will be of any use here... ]

[whiteshroud]

[Oh good, he didn't miss and fall to his death. That makes things much easier.

Jun will also draw his sword, and start attacking at the crystal along with Kashuu. His hits pack a punch, causing cracks in only a couple hits. This would go faster with his vision, he's sure, but they're kinda a long way from any dirt lying around.

He'll stop in a swing, picking up on movements]

Hold on!

[And he'll move to quickly grab onto the dragon itself as it starts to veer around, as if trying to shake them off]

[nailpolished]

It'll have to try harder than that!

[ WHATEVER IT IS. A dragon, yes, but he doesn't know what the fuck is going on plotwise, forgive him for being brand new - ]

We may need to coordinate our attacks to break this thing!

[whiteshroud]

[It's ok, his best friend is a total himbo, so he's used to someone being clueless. ]

Good idea! I'll make a crack on the crystal, and you follow up with an attack on that spot, okay?

[nailpolished]

I'm on it! [ At least working with a team is familiar to him - hell, even working with people he's only just met is familiar to him. Sometimes you only get to speak to a sword a little bit before you're thrown out on a sortie together.

So if Jun makes a crack, he's going to slam into it with his blade. ]

[whiteshroud]

[Jun is more accustomed to working alone, but he's worked with other people enough to know how to work together. And right now, there was a mission to accomplish. He can worry about things like names later.

He waits until the dragon stops veering around long enough for him to move without fear of falling. Lifting up his sword, he brings it down as hard as he can with his strength. The sword, being just a regular old long sword not meant for mining with a guy with super strength, breaks from the force of the hit - the tip of the blade going flying off the dragon and down below.

But the plan seemed to work - there is now a massive crack through the crystal shell - revealing the soft inside for Kashuu to get at]

Go!

[nailpolished]

[ INCIDENTALLY, YUFF, DID YOU KNOW...KASHUU HAS TRAUMA OVER BEING BROKEN HIMSELF? FROM HIS TIP BREAKING? This is absolutely not his day, but there isn't time to freeze up even if he's totally going to remember this day and mildly hold it against Jun...how could u, bro... ]

- Right!

[ His own sword doesn't break as he stabs it in. Which is good, because today isn't a day that Kashuu feels like dying... ]

[whiteshroud]

[AMAZINGLY I DID NOT KNOW THAT. Nor does Jun. But it's fine, he won't get it but he's pretty used to being hated by people he's just met. #SealKnightLife

With the hard shell out of the way, Kashuu's sword slides straight into the corrupted core of the mass! It's a critical blow, and the entire crystal lets out some energy before dissipating altogether.

Jun looks around, there's a couple other cores but it looks like other teams are handling them. They did their part of job]

That'll do it! We should go!

[He'll make sure Kashuu can see him properly before jumping up, opening his wind glider so the wind catches him and lifts him off the dragon. TIME TO GO]

[nailpolished]

[ - OH, YEAH, THE DRAGON WILL PROBABLY NOT STAY FLYING - ]

This is the woooooooooorst! [ Called out as he, like, jumps off the dragon. With his glider, no worries. (Well, some worries. He's still learning.) ]

[whiteshroud]

[RIGHT SIR WE CAN'T STAY ON THE DRAGON FOREVER. Jun keeps an eye on Kashuu to make sure he safely gets off the dragon himself. The poor guy.

When they're out of immediately danger of getting hit by a wing or something, he'll call out]

Even so, you did well!

[And he means that sincerely! Kashuu was helpful! ]

[nailpolished]

[ WELL, THANKS FOR THAT - ]

Yeah... [ Yeah... ] You should be more careful with your weapons, you know.

[whiteshroud]

[Hm? He was thinking about that?]

I know. But I didn't have another way to break through that shell.

[And ultimately, the mission mattered more than anything else.]

[nailpolished]

You'll make your weapons sad at this rate...

[ But, well. Perhaps that's the normal way to see things: weapons are made to be used for the sake of a mission, even to the point of being broken. It just feels a little sad for him. ]

[whiteshroud]

[Make his weapons sad? A normal person would probably immediately scoff at that idea, since weapons aren't alive. But Jun takes it a bit more seriously - Soul Devices did seem to have some emotional connection to them, that's part of how they manifest in the first place after all. Perhaps this guy is used to weapons like that.

A normal person would also probably respond to this by defending himself. That he does take care of his weapons. He had worked hard for to get that blade. Perhaps he wasn't emotionally attached to his weapons like other people were, but he took proper care of them.

...But he doesn't do either of those things. He knows he's a monster. It was part of being a Seal Knight, doing things that were necessary even if they were terrible. He already made people sad by doing his work, why not weapons? The words weigh on his already guilty conscience.]

... Mm. I'm sure I will.

[His words are quieter, probably easy to miss over the wind. ]

[nailpolished]

[ Look, he didn't say it so Jun could self-hate spiral. It's not about that. Just... ]

Then take a little more care next time!

[ He doesn't know if weapons here are somehow "less" than weapons at home, but either way: they should be treated like the lives Kashuu is used to them being. ]

[whiteshroud]

[No don't worry Kashuu you're good. He just needs therapy. So much therapy.]

Ah-

I'll try!

[He can't promise it because MUST ALWAYS ACCOMPLISH MISSIONS, but he can try!!]