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

ochako uraraka | geo | ota

[infreefall]

i. reconstruction.

[ you know who has abilities that are tailor-made to reconstruction efforts? this girl!! she’s mostly focusing on moving debris and heavy materials around as needed. and no, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you! you really did see that wooden beam just float on by, with only ochako’s hand to lead it to wherever she’s taking it.

and if she sees someone struggling with something - ]

Hey! Need a hand with that?

[ let her be your hero! ]

ii. domains.

Whoa...

[ now that they’re in, ochako is just... wandering around, taking it all in. she’s obviously impressed. ]

This place is huge. Hey, do you think it’s magic, or some kind of illusion?

iii. puji shrine.

[ there is a new addition to the scenery in mondstadt! at first, it’s just the wooden kamidana itself, built mostly from scraps of wood that couldn’t be salvaged for repairing the buildings. a day later, a box for offerings appears, set close by in case the shelf doesn’t suit your offering. and a few days after that, a small ferret statue made of stone appears inside of the kamidana, sitting upright on its pedestal like a small guardian.

after a few more days pass, ochako herself is visiting the little shrine, very carefully setting a pair of plush animals on either side of the ferret statue. why does that fox have an eyepatch? ask and find out! ]

wildcard.

[ in case you have other plans! ochako will be doing commissions, training (with her sword or her vision!), and just trying to help out around town as they fix things up! ]

ii

[whiteshroud]

[This isn't his first time in a domain in Teyvat, but it's still surreal for Jun to think this world can have stable Eclipse labyrinths. While Ochako is in awe, he's keeping an eye out for any potential dangers.]

Haha, it's not an illusion. Labyrinths like these are shaped by beings with very strong spirit power within a spirit realm. They don't have to follow the same building conventions we do.

[You know like, obeying the laws of gravity]

[infreefall]

Last time I saw something like this, it was just a computer simulation turned all glitchy.

[ beings with strong spirit power... huh. ]

But you mean like gods or something, right? I wonder what happened that they'd just abandon something like this, though.

[whiteshroud]

Haha, really? Like VR?

[We don't have fancy holograms in 2015 ok]

Yep, though strong enough spirits and demons can do it too. [He glances around] I'm wondering that too...normally when it's master is gone, the labyrinth will eventually disappear. But this one seems stable.

iii

[pragmatism]

[ A shrine to an unknown god, constructed by an outlander... most curious. This definitely catches Zhongli's eye, so he pays attention to this particular place in order to find out who built it. After a few days, his patience is rewarded, and he seems to be coincidentally walking by as Ochako heads up to the shrine. ]

Hello. [ She's putting the stuffed animals there. That's interesting... ] What are these for?

[infreefall]

Hm? You mean the stuffed animals?

[ glances between zhongli, the plushies... and she's smiling when she turns back to him. ]

They're important animals for Xie Lian and Hua Cheng-san. This one [ the ferret! it's wearing a miniature straw hat. ] is for Xie Lian, and the fox is for Hua Cheng-san. They'd want to be together, so I made one for both of them.

[pragmatism]

[ It sounds like Ochako is talking about people who weren't here. So she made these animals for these gods...? Gods that weren't here, unless some spirits from Inazuma somehow made it past the border. ]

I see. They look carefully made. I worry if the Hilichurls will take a fancy to these and remove them from their rightful place.

[ Which means he will use his elemental abilities to add a glass cover to the front of the shrine, so that no monsters are going to reach out and just grab them as they please. ]

iii

[beatnest]

[ Oh? This wasn't here a few days ago. Byakuya recognizes a shrine when he sees one, and of course Ochako too. ]

I didn't know a fox could have an eyepatch.

[infreefall]

What, you’ve never seen a one-eyed fox before?

[ she gives a little laugh! ]

Or maybe it just wanted to make a fashion statement. Who's to say?

[beatnest]

Animals making fashion statements sounds like too much work...

[ Somehow that sounds like it would be more work for him? hmm. ]

iii-ish

[complementing]

[It's so out of place in the rustic western country aesthetics of Mondstadt that Minako does a double take when she sees the kamidana. Admittedly she never saw these very much, being more of a city girl, but it's so classically Japanese that she chases off the nearby hilichurls in the area, just to guarantee herself some time to inspect it. The ferret plush is adorable, and upon seeing the offering box, Minako drops a handful of Mora in. Perhaps more solemnly than she's done in a long time, she brings her hands together for a prayer. Even Koromaru dips his head respectfully.

Minako's not surprised when she's done with her prayers that she's a little weepy, and with a laugh at Koromaru's headtilt, she flicks her tears away. It's a good reminder of home.]

At least you're the only one here to see, right, Korochan?

[infreefall]

[ ...unfortunately for minako, korochan is not the only one here. since finishing the little shrine, ochako’s been making a point to visit every few days, with offerings whenever she can swing it. today there’s a meat bun in her hands, and she stops short when she hears what minako’s saying with a little gasp. ]

Oh! I didn’t know you were - [ crying?! OH NO SHE’S INTRUDING… ] Sorry! I’ll just - come back later!

[ she is turning right back around to go now ]

[complementing]

Wah!

[She hastily finishes wiping her tears away with one hand, flailing the other in protest before remembering her manners and bowing.]

No, no, please don't leave on my account! I'm the one who can come back later— in fact I definitely will even though I have no idea who I'm praying to, the kamidana is just so cute and nostalgic I know I won't be able to help myself...

ii

[bowfaire]

Definitely bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside...

(Either that or they're really, really lost but he's pretty confident that he knows where they've been heading so far and they haven't really looped back outside maybe having to trigger some sort of puzzle or something?)

In this place, I wouldn't be surprised if it was both.

(Magic and illusions. Both are plausible where Claude is from so he feels comfortable assuming the same here.)

... How're you holding up?

(He looks over towards Ochako. He hadn't expected to team up with her. It looked like she was avoiding him since they met? He's not complaining, though.)

[infreefall]

[ if she’s nervous about being here with claude of all people, it doesn’t show. she seems much more fascinated by this new world they’re in. everything is so different here from where they were just a few minutes ago that it almost reminds her of…

well, it doesn’t matter. ]

Both sounds about right. I just wish I knew how that stuff worked.

[ for all she knows, it’s just another type of quirk? theoretical stuff like that has never been her strong suit, though. it’s beyond her! so instead of focusing on what might be true, ochako focuses on what’s right in front of them - barrels, crates, or those weird mechanisms that pop up here and there. claude’s question stops her right before turning a corner, though, as she looks back at him in confusion. ]

What do you mean? I’m fine.

[ does she?? not look fine?? ]

[bowfaire]

Same here. I've never really been able to get magic. (He just doesn't have a talent for it at all. ) Maybe what we saw on the outside wasn't the whole thing, though.

(Maybe there was more underground or behind it some how. He makes a note to check it out whenever they get out. Until then, he pokes some of the crates and barrels with the end of his bow, as if waiting to see if something will jump out at them. While he does, he speaks casually,)

I didn't think I'd run into you out here. (Tap, tap,) And I got the feeling you were avoiding me.

(Not looking at him and stuff? Yeah.)

iii

[eolja]

[ray i thought about seonho having a conniption in the info-gathering thread but that means ill hit u with like 5 more threads so im gonna consolidate everything here,

Seonho's always on the look out for anything "new" in Mondstadt. Perhaps proof that something is finally changing with the city for good, or proof that the citizens can diverge from their usual paths if only for a moment. Either way, it doesn't take him long to notice this newest addition.

But when he comes closer and sees Ochako, he realizes that this addition must be... her work? Perhaps? Is she in the middle of a prayer, maybe? He shouldn't disturb her if she is. He leans in a little to look at the shrine more closely, and the inscription at the top makes him pause --

HUA CHENG???? wait a minute.... he KNOWS THAT GUY? maybe it's not the same guy though. he doesn't remember the crimson rain sought flower part. then he glances at the other name, Xie Lian. wait.]

Are these -- gods from your home, Ochako?

[infreefall]

From home…?

[ she glances back at the shrine, and laughs a little. ]

No, they aren’t from my world. They’re people I met before, in the Realm. Xie Lian and Hua Cheng-san… they were really good friends.

[ there’s a fond smile on her face as she picks up the ferret plush, holding it up for seonho to see. ]

And Xie Lian told me how he didn’t have a lot of followers, so I thought, why not give him a few more, you know? If I could always rely on him, I figured other people could, too. And they’d want to be together, so I couldn’t leave Hua Cheng-san out.

[eolja]

[Seonho glances at the ferret plush that is admittedly very cute, even if it confuses him further. look, he's only ever met Hua Cheng's "San Lang" persona!!!

The mention of the "Realm" makes him pause though, and a complex expression appears on his face for a moment. Only for a moment though,]

...Those names sound familiar to me, though I do not know if they belong to the same people you speak of. [yet another coincidence, for ochako and xie lian and hua cheng to have been in a separate place altogether as well.] Was your friend Hua Cheng devoted to a god?

[he tilts his head a little,]

And was that god Xie Lian?

[since Ochako mentioned followers, though Seonho assumed that maybe Xie Lian is just someone of authority. but then would that explain the shrine?]

iii

[hangfire]

[It's hard not to miss the little shrine that popped up in a quiet corner of the town. He doesn't recognize the style, doesn't recognize the names scrawled against the top. What he does recognize is where some of these supplies came from.

Huh. A little unstable... but cute.

He's surprised to see the thing still standing after nearly a week, taking a second to check down the street on his way back to his apartment, waterskin looped against his shoulder and a small bag in his hands.

Ah. It's the earth-tied girl that helped him with that crazy egg thief.]

So it's you, huh. ["Hello" isn't in his vocabulary apparently, though there's no bite to it, eyeing the shrine instead with veiled curiosity.] Any reason you're crafting something out where strangers can mess with it?

[infreefall]

Hm? Oh, Pahr-san!

[ ochako has a smile ready for him, even as she turns to glance back at the little shrine. ]

Honestly, I did consider just keeping it to a small kamidana in the house they gave me here, but I thought Xie Lian would've wanted the chance to reach out to everyone if he could, not just me. He always talked about trying to help as many people as possible, so it didn't feel right to just keep it to myself, you know?

[hangfire]

Hey, hey, no, just "Pahr". Don't know where you got that last sound from. [He doesn't sound too put-off for long, since she just spits out a bunch of words without context and he has to quickly try to form some sort of context.

He leans over to get a better look at the underside of the shrine's little roof, hand against his hip.] And no, can't say I know any of that. I'm not from your "Japan".

What is it, a model of some sort? A gravemarker?

I

[sufferean]

[You know who else is hauling big heavy things around all reconstruction period? This guy. You know who doesn't have powers to help out with it? Also this guy.

So he is definitely a bit surprised when he sees a big ol' beam floating past him, but that shock tempers a little when he notices who's following right behind it.]

Ah, is this your "quirk" you were telling me about?

[He remembers! And floating things sure sound like "Zero Gravity" to him!]

[infreefall]

[ oh, it's you! she grins. having the chance to show off is nice once in a while! ]

That's right! If you need a break, I can take that off your hands.

[sufferean]

I can't say I'd mind the assistance!

[Like, he's doing okay, but... you know... he's reckless, not stupid. He's not going to turn down perfectly good help if it's offered.]

When did you get that back, if you don't mind me asking? Definitely seems like some good timing.