stellafortunalogs | FEBRUARY MINGLE

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FEBRUARY MINGLE

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.

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[She nods and starts gliding towards the dragon as it loops around to them again. As soon as she can see the length of its body under her, she forces her body into a flip, plummeting with her spear pointed down at her target. It's a long drop. It's an incredibly long drop. But it's exactly like one of her finisher moves at the same time, and strangely, she doesn't feel any fear that she'll fall to the ground. She only feels the calm of fight, the determination pumping through her that tells her to get the job done.]

Hyaaaaahhhh!

[She clips the side of the purple spike, and while the dragon roars in fury or pain, the resistance of the crystal against her spear unbalances her enough that she stumbles back several yards. Minako manages to hang onto a wing, and then begins the arduous task of fighting the wind to reach the crystal spike once again.]

[Jun had his attention split, between keeping an eye on the dragon and making sure Minako reached her destination. He fires volleys of arrows, making sure the dragon's attention is focused on him. It works, and his reflexes are quick enough that he's able to evade the gusts of ameno energy enough so they do nothing but occasionally blow him a little off course.

He relents only when Minako hits the target. Putting away his bow, he'll glide up above the dragon. As soon as he sees an opening, he's jumping down. He doesn't try for an attack on the crystal, nor is his drop nearly as high as hers was. He's focusing on landing safely so to assist Minako first, after all. He lands with an inhuman amount of grace, and gets low as he tries to move towards Minako with an outreached hand]

Minako!

[Minako clenches her teeth and reaches out, fingers straining before she catches onto his hand. With a heave of effort, she hauls herself closer until she's huddled up at his side, squinting against the wind. What she wouldn't give for a pair of goggles right now.]

Thanks!

[She's so glad that the dragon hasn't tried throwing them off...yet. She has no doubt it's going to at least make a turn in the air soon, though, and that'll be just as dangerous for them. Time to pick up the pace. Minako resummons her spear, planting the butt of it against the dragon's back for support, and then struggles to a standing position.]

Alright, here we go! Haaaa—!

[Fire bursts against the crystal with each slash of her weapon, and though it doesn't seem to crack the crystal much, the dragon definitely feels it, roaring out after a particularly fierce hit.]

[He helps pulls her up close to him, which is done fairly easily with their combined strength. His own clothes and hair are whipping wildly in the wind, even as he keeps low on the dragon. It's one of those times that being short pays off.

He's ready to move out, but boy does her summoning her spear catch him by surprise]

-- You can summon your weapon?!

[WHY DID NO ONE TELL HIM THIS WAS A TRICK YOU CAN DO HERE?! Was he supposed to find out himself????

Oh right. Mission. Focus. He draws his own longsword (not his claymore because he sure didn't KNOW you could summon THAT /salt salt). Her strikes and the fire weaken the crystal, so he'll assist by moving to the other side of it and swinging his own blade at it. He can't use his vision like her at the moment, but with his superstrength in combined with the work already done? It more than helps with making a clear crack in the crystal - even breaking off a segment of it.]

[If they were anywhere else right now, she would've burst out laughing at that reaction. But right now she can only give him a grim smile that says "I'll try to explain later???" before she goes full ham on the crystal spike. And if she's surprised that his strength is able to make such a dent in comparison to her, that too will wait until later, Minako stepping back to let the fragment tumble away and get carried off by the wind. Hopefully it doesn't land on someone's head...]

That's the way! Keep it up!

[She gets a fresh grip on her spear and jams the tip deeper into the crack, using the pole as leverage to wedge it open. The crack widens, causing spiderwebs of smaller breaks to bloom over the crystal— but this is too much for the dragon, it seems, because it starts to thrash, screeching out. Minako yelps as she's once again unbalanced, but her spear is so firmly stuck in the crystal that all she has to do is hang on for dear life, fighting her instinct to steady herself further by leaning on the crystal. It definitely doesn't seem good to touch.

And Jun, what about Jun? She cranes her neck around, raising her voice in worry.]

Jun?!

[Yeah you better explain later he wants his proper sword back!! He'll keep hitting the crystal, intent on destroying it. But before he can get to that, the dragon thrashes around- knocking him off balance. ]

Shit!

[He tumbles back, nearly falling off the edge of the dragon. But before he can be throw off completely, he quickly pulls out a dagger infused with geo energy and stabs it deep into a gap between some scales so he can use it as something to hold onto. The dragon screeches and thrashes some more from being stabbed with something strong enough to actually pierce its hide- but Jun manages to hold on. Thanks grandpa.

Though you know, he's still dangling off the edge of a dragon over a 100 feet in the air. He could probably use some help]

[The thrashing feels as strong as standing in the epicenter of an earthquake, violent and close enough that her teeth chatter. But she clings with all the strength she has, trusting in Vel Vel Muruga's sturdiness, and soon the dragon shakes off its pain, gliding once more. As soon as it seems clear, Minako dislodges her spear from the crystal with an almighty yank.]

Hang on, I'm coming!

[She gets as close to the edge of the dragon's body as she dares, peering quickly over the edge to judge the distance, and then holds out the pole side to him, wedging her feet between some ridges in its body to give herself as much balance and stability as possible.]

Grab on, quick!

[Yeah, he can't say dangling off the side of a dragon is what you'd call a good time. He's just doing his best not to fall off this thing. Thankfully Minako shows up before he can start losing his grip.

Putting away his sword so he has a free hand, he'll reach up and grab the staff as he pulls the dagger out with his other hand (because like hell is he giving up this dagger). Using it as a guide, he'll pull himself back up and climb onto the dragon's back properly. ]

Thank you!

[Out of immediate danger, he'll sheathe the dagger and pull out the sword once more. Being on this dragon wasn't a great time, but he was still determined to complete their mission]

Make sure your glider's ready, I think we'll be thrown off for real when we finish off this crystal.

Right.

[Minako pushes forward, jamming her spear straight into the crack they made earlier, pushing all her weight onto the pole as a counterbalance. The splinters in the crystal become more visible until there's a crunch that's audible even over the gusts of wind around them.]

I think I got it!

[Except she doesn't got it. The crystal refuses to crack just that little bit more in order to be excised from the dragon. Minako pulls her spear out and wipes away a bead of sweat from her cheek, clearly annoyed despite her exhaustion.]

Will you just— [a swift, childish kick] —break already?!

[Damn. Jun thought her spear work would've been enough, but clearly that crystal is being stubborn. He gives a little huff before stepping forward.]

Stand back.

[Once she's backed up, he'll spin and give a hard kick against the crystal with the heel of his boot. With the super-strength put into the kick, it gives it that final blow it needs to break- the top of the crystal breaking and falling off]

Got it!

[Though his words are quickly muffled by the dragon roaring and reacting. Yeah. He didn't like that]

[It doesn't seem right to cheer when the dragon reacts in such an anguished way, but Minako is relieved it's done, at least. Hopefully they're doing the right thing. She grits her teeth against the earthquake-like thrashing, and stumbles to the edge of the dragon's body.]

Time to go!

[It's a leap of faith if she ever took one, kicking off from the dragon's body for a boost and then plummeting for a few seconds before flinging out her arms, feeling her glider stretch out in response over her back. The wind catches in it immediately, and she sails away, craning her neck over her shoulder to make sure she isn't about to become a dragon's afternoon snack.]

Is it landing?!

[You don't have to tell Jun twice! Now that the job is done, he's not hesitating to leap off the dragon. He's used to doing this off buildings, so this is only...a little different, right? Enough that he's calm and quiet as he lets himself plummet for several seconds, only opening his glider after she does. ]

Not sure, it might be trying to get away! We should get to the ground.

[Since boy if it does swing around to attack them, they are sitting ducks up here]

[Minako nods to him and angles her body enough that she takes the drop a little bit steeper, a little bit faster. Not really ideal considering she's still a novice glider, but she'll take a rough landing compared to getting launched halfway across the country by an errant tail whip.

Luckily they don't seem to have any issues, and once they're close enough to the ground, she lets the glider go. She takes a few leaping steps as her feet hit the earth, until she loses her momentum and comes to a stop.]

Phew...still in one piece. [And then her jelly legs give out, and she collapses onto the ground, laughing in little puffing breaths.] We did it!

[Though it's hard to say what "it" is.]

[Jun is of the same mindset, doing what he can to accelerate his own descent without causing harm to himself. Get away from that dragon, in other words.

When they are closer to the ground, he lands with a bit more grace than Minako, simply positioning his legs so he lands in a half-crouch without breaking anything. He's used to jumping down from high places, and his enhanced body can withstand the impact with ease. While Minako collapses, he'll kneel to stay close to her height]

Haha ... so it seems. [There was a lot of questions about what happened, but they could enjoy this moment] You did well up there, Minako-san.

[Minako is just a tiny bit jealous of how easy he made this whole fight look. One day she'll get her usual level of stamina and grace back, and then she won't feel like collapsing every time she finishes a fight.]

Thanks, Jun! You were pretty amazing up there yourself. [She tilts her head back to look up into the sky, staring at the wispy clouds they'd just been near not five minutes ago.] Wow. We just flew.

[A grin blazes across her face and she flops onto her back, her huffs now full blown laughter.]

We actually flew! Just like birds! That was amazing!

[If it makes her feel better, he is tired from the fight. He's just much better at hiding the exhaustion. Blah blah rigorous knight training, blah blah traumatic childhood - you get the drill.

He smiles a little. Minako's never afraid to show her awe and wonder. It's endearing to see.]

Haha, it was. I can't say I've ever done something quite like that before. [Fight monsters? Sure, all the time. But never in the sky] I suppose we have Barbatos to thank for all the wind that kept our gliders up.

Yeah!

[Minako brings her hands together in prayer, her laughing easing off into a pious smile.]

Thank you for watching over us, Barbatos. We'll continue to protect your city as much as we can while we're here.

[..... Yeah he's not joining in on that prayer. No siree He'll just quietly stand by and wait for her to finish. ]

I'm sure he appreciates it. [He clears his throat. MOVING ON.] Do you require more rest? Or should we start heading back to town?

[No judgement for not joining! Minako's not usually a praying type herself, but in this world where gods are very much more present and benevolent than in her own, it feels polite and right to say at least a few words.]

We can head back to town, and then I'll rest. [She laughs as she pulls herself back up.] If I stay down here for long, I won't want to get up at all.

[She holds her hand out, palm towards him.]

Hi-five!

Haha, I don't think you're wrong. The grass does look comfortable.

[Even he wouldn't be against relaxing for a moment. But there really were things he should be checking on. He can rest when he's sure things are calm.

But oh hey! He knows how to do one of these thanks to his friends! With a smile, he'll reach down and slap her hand in a hi-five]

Good work!

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FEBRUARY MINGLE

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