childrenofbahamutlogs | EVENT #1: FAE FESTIVITIES

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EVENT #1: FAE FESTIVITIES

INTO THE WOODS

Click Clock Wood (Spring) by Grant Kirkhope

2:05 / 4:59

▶︎

Click here to listen.

Grant Kirkhope is a Scottish composer and voice actor for video games and film. Some of his notable works include GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Perfect Dark, among many others.

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After making your way through the tiny farming town of Ich and out towards the rim of a massive raised crater, you will find yourself being led through a narrow split in the canyon wall. Inside, glow worms cling to the ceiling and create the illusion of a thousand twinkling stars above the moistened rocks.

When you finally emerge, it is into an impossibly lush landscape of massive, redwood-sized tangling trees and a soft moss carpet. Life abounds here. It feels like an oasis of birdsong and animal activity.

A short walk leads you to the prepared party-grounds. A large clearing with quaint huts all around decorated with strange flowers for partygoers to rest or otherwise entertain themselves.

There appear to be several games and stalls set up, the sweet and savory scents of delicious food fills the air, and so do the patrons of the forest. Seemingly hundreds of Fae folk zip around and greet the newcomers excitedly by placing garlands of vines and crowns of flowers atop their heads.

Glowing flowers and toadstools light your way here. It also seems that even the animals get in on the festivities! Really, just about everything talks here. Almost everything, anyways! Talking to a tree stump might not yield many results but you're welcome to try.

Each entrant is also provided upon arrival a copy of The Rules. A rolled parchment that resists water or any other damage. It also prevents you from writing on it so you can't just do what you want.

The rules read as follows:

DO:

ONLY

DO NOT:

TRADE

OTHER ITEMS TO NOTE:

old woman

GAMES & ENTERTAINMENT

Amongst the games and attractions are a variety of fun possibilities!

GAMES

Battleship! (Fae Style!)

a cup of nectar that refills endlessly, and numbs any pains you may have.

curse

dissipate after a time

Dress Up Darlings!

how

Bobbing For Onions!

Bag of Onions

What's In The Box?

ENTERTAINMENT

Slayd & The Possums!

play

The Crowning of the King of Misrule!

a lottery

King of Misrule

Special Gift

FOR THE FOOLISH

Ahh, but there are rule breakers amongst us aren't there? If you choose to sneak away from the party, chances are nobody will stop you; however, you are now on your own in the Talahee Forest.

FIRST LAYER

Rak'tika Greatwood Theme ( Civilizations ) by Masayoshi Soken

4:34 / 5:15

▶︎

Click here to listen.

"Civilizations" prominently features a female vocalist. The lyrics are in the Ronkan language, and has not been officially translated.

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The first layer of the forest is very much similar to what you have already seen. Everything is coated in a thick mat of moss and trees wind away like a massive birds nest to form the canopy above. The faint sounds of animals can still be heard. Up here, you may encounter Fae who did not attend the party. They'll ask you your name and other personal details.

Best that you lie.

SECOND LAYER

Click Clock Wood (Autumn) by Grant Kirkhope

1:12 / 4:11

▶︎

Click here to listen.

Grant Kirkhope is a Scottish composer and voice actor for video games and film. Some of his notable works include GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Perfect Dark, among many others.

code

The further in that you head, the darker the forest gets. It seems you are following a downward slope. The trees get bigger here, as do the insects and toadstools. Bioluminescence rules down here it seems. You may encounter stranger creatures here. Ones that will try to make very tempting trades for your personal belongings. Things that will seem like an amazing deal to you. They offer magical items of great power, or even personal effects from home.

Don't be fooled though. These objects are cursed, and are not at all what they seem. You have the distinct feeling of being watched at all times here.

⁂ Possible Encounters: Owlbear, Displacer Beast, Giant Badger

THIRD LAYER

Saint Mocianne's Arboretum (Hard) by Masayoshi Soken

2:50 / 5:10

▶︎

Click here to listen.

...hordes of aggressive plant life exposed to the strange substance stand between you and the information you seek.

code

Are you getting smaller or is everything else getting bigger? Were Slayd here, he would have told you about the concept of Deep Forest Gigantism. The deeper you go - just like the ocean - the larger that the flora and fauna get.

You are dwarfed by the mushrooms here in the pitch darkness and only guided by the latent glow of the creatures and fungi that dwell here. Bugs the size of house-cats skitter in your wake. Are you sure you want to be here? Should you encounter anything larger, you’d best stay silent. Or run!

⁂ Possible Encounters: Giant predatory Elk (RUN), Rodents of Unusual Size, Extra Large Bugs

FOURTH LAYER

Poison Tree by Grouper

0:30 / 3:16

▶︎

Click here to listen.

'Poison Tree' is a meditation on the complexities of anger and the internal conflict it causes. It draws inspiration from William Blake's poem of the same name.

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The trees seem to clear out here as you reach the bottom of the forest. There is no light here so hope you brought a match. The landscape down here is a blanket of moss dotted with countless shallow pools. Looking into one of these pools, you will see your reflection... though it may look different in some way.

You will feel extremely compelled to reach down and touch the reflection in the water. Should you give in, you feel as though your world is turning upside down. You could receive memories not quite your own. Memories of a different version of you, even! (CRAU, Canon Update, or Canon AU!)

Yet, you will be experiencing them as your own. A long time could pass in your mind while only seconds have only elapsed in reality. Upon waking, you will find that you have been ejected from the party and the forest entirely. You find yourself at the entrance to the crater. Disoriented, and compelled not to re-enter, you have only yourself to blame as you must shamble your way home with this burdensome knowledge.

Notes

⁂ For the game prizes, we're using the honor system here! So long as you clear the roll then you can receive a prize with no mod permission needed.

Battleship

above a 13

Bobbing For Onions

above a 10

⁂ To sign up for The Crowning of the King of Misrule, comment here! We'll RNG the winner likely within a few days to a week to give folks time to participate if they want!

⁂ The plotting post for this event/November is up!

⁂ Additionally, we have a state of the game post available to people read about updates, clarifications, and a poll to participate in!

⁂ If you have any further questions or feedback about this event specifically, please comment here!

⁂ Full Navigation ⁂

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, that's just it. He does. He has to be in control at all points, across every twitch of his nerves, every spike of emotion. Because every slip has been punished to a severity he could only learn from. If not the physical pain inflicted on him for stepping out of line, forgetting his place as an outsider, then for something far worse. How easy it was to threaten Lunafreya where only Ravus would know her suffering to come. The choke chain they had around his throat for so many years, that even free of it, he's always expecting the tightening down.

So being told to take what he wants feels like a trap. Being told to want something at all is so foreign a thought. Ravus stumbles over the question. When was the last time he wanted anything for himself? Maybe when he was a child, and wanted to be Lunafreya's knight. When he wanted to take up the tradition of House Fleuret and dutifully protect his Oracle. But beyond that, the selfishness of wanting he has kept hidden and silent. Wanting Lunafreya to be happy and free. But is that what Ardyn means? What Aranea meant? Probably not.

So he stands there, bewildered and unsure.

"I... I don't know." Honest, always painfully honest. "I'm not sure I know how to. My wants and joys has always been in service to another."

Of course, he doesn't know. When has he ever had the opportunity to want anything for himself? He's not like Ardyn who just takes what he wants, no matter the cost, and says damn the consequences. Once again, he worries the gulf between them is insurmountable. Despite himself, that only makes Ardyn want to close it more.

When will he ever learn?

"I can teach you," he offers. It's a risk he's willing to take for the potential reward. "You are only in service to yourself here, after all. Same as me. Any of us." As he speaks, he steps in again and doesn't waver in keeping Ravus' gaze. "I can tell you what I want right now, if it helps," he continues, lips upturning just a tick in mischievous playfulness. A dash of desire behind his amber eyes that he can't quite conceal anymore for added measure.

"What I want is another kiss. Maybe a few more, if I'm allowing myself to be greedy. So I ask again, Ravus: What do you want?"

Ravus isn't truly aware of the damn-near void between their desires, only the physical gap that Ardyn is quick to close again. This time, at least, Ravus has an idea what to expect. And this time, Ardyn has the grace to make it obvious enough for even someone as inexperienced as Ravus. Hard to argue with such directness.

"It does help," he murmurs, not quite so bold as to hold that smoldering golden look. It's intense in a way Ravus has never experienced before. Maybe to most it would be little more than blatant want and cloyingly mischievous intent, but has anyone ever looked at him like that before? With desire? With unveiled want? Ravus can't ever recall such a moment. And it makes his face feel flushed with heat, makes his gut twist up in knots. So his gaze falls just a touch, almost in deference to what is clearly a lead he can only think to follow. Because while Ardyn says they are only in service to themselves, Ravus can't abide by that. His wants are the wants of others.

So he must want Ardyn to kiss him again, right? It makes sense...

And yet.

And yet there's a part of him that can't let go of certain things. Even if Ravus has never truly wanted something for himself, he has wanted to be something for another.

So Ravus looks up to meet Ardyn's eyes, and shakes his head. While still so close, he reaches to take Ardyn by the hand. He doesn't even hesitate to ever-so-gallantly bring them to his lips. The silver looks more sure than he has all night as he kisses Ardyn's knuckles instead, the faintest stir of a smile there.

"I am not a man that gives way to greed quite so easily. For as much as I enjoyed that kiss, you've asked me what I want just as well. And what I want, I think, would be to do something like this properly. A courtship, a kiss earned properly."

Although not often a direct man, he can be when it matters. Or, in this instance, when it's something he wants badly enough. There's a lot about Ravus he does want. Most of them are the metaphorical or more abstract: a hold over him, a place to carve out in his mind and heart and make it nearly impossible to extract him from easily, and someone to utilize when he may need as a result. Physically, this is the most he's felt in terms of desire in... a long while now and he's not discrediting that either. It's still strange though to feel stirrings in his own hollowed out heart when Ravus turns red like that.

But the other man doesn't answer immediately, which makes Ardyn wonder if he had overplayed his hand. He can correct if so, of course, but it would be disappointing. So while he's anticipating rejection with that head shake, he's... wholly unprepared for acceptance but in a much different way. His hand is taken - with no hesitation, he does note - and it's kissed almost delicately. Ravus smiles at him, a soft and sweet sort of thing that makes his stomach twist. He feels like he's suffocating suddenly.

It should be a good thing. It should. It's an opening still, the possibility for more but somehow feels wrong now. Keeping things solely physical would have been easy, ideal- This? He shot himself in the foot, it seems, with encouraging Ravus to go for what he wanted since he never in a million years considered he'd want more out of Ardyn than fulfilling a shallow, more carnal need. Who would?

Ravus, it seems, and so he's not sure what to think. And when he's not sure, the easiest thing to do is retreat: "I'm not the courting type, I'm afraid," he answers, at first. Which would normally be the end of it, he'd imagine. A misstep, a misunderstanding, and they could go back to what worked rather than him trying to take more than he should.

And yet- That damn voice is scratching in the back of his head mingled in with Aera and Somnus' whispers about he's ruining everything, how this was never going to work out like he thought, how Ravus will realize what he's playing at before long regardless. Somehow, he still hears it trying to tell him something that he can't make out but can feel instead. A compulsion to- Be honest?

"Which... doesn't mean I can't be, just that it's been a while. My skills in proper courtship are a bit rusty. But if that doesn't deter you any still, I can. Try."

(What the fuck is happening?)

Ravus tips his head to the side, feeling the weight of that statement sink in. Not the courting type, doesn't necessarily mean it all means nothing. But there's no small part of him that doesn't wither a bit. Some tiny flame in him that he's never had the chance to kindle threatens to snuff out before he's ever had the time to see it flourish. But then, as per usual, Ardyn surprises him.

A footnote to the admission, but more than enough that it brightens Ravus' gaze by a notable fraction.

"If it has been awhile, then you are still ahead of me," Ravus admits. Not that the prior reveal of him never so much as having kissed should make that a surprise, but still. He's honest by default, and willing to say how he feels, and what he does or doesn't know. "I admit, my knowledge is entirely theoretical. So I think it would make me a hypocrite to be deterred, yes?"

Ravus doesn't drop Ardyn's hand, so much as he squeezes it gently, and smooths the pad of his thumb along the back of his palm. It's also where his gaze falls, the bolt of bravery to say what he's wanted returning back to his usual socially awkward self. That dusky pink across his cheeks is ever-present here.

"If you find it doesn't work, I shouldn't like to trap you. I trust you will tell me if it both too much, or not enough? I'm afraid I do very little by half-measures, so..."

Normally, someone wilting like that would please him. He - and nearly everyone - knows it. So, why then does it cause the slightest pinprick again of guilt instead...? Instead of completely withdrawing though, Ravus at least responds to his surprisingly vulnerable proposal. This might be salvageable after all.

(The voice in the back of his head nags at him again to stop thinking of this in such a way, like something to 'win' but- Does Ardyn know how not to? He's not so sure.)

"I was a much younger man," he says, "but somehow managed to have my charm." Granted, his 'charm' these days is mostly performative and manipulative. Back then though, with Aera, his charm points were much different in that he really didn't have any at all beyond his somewhat awkward fumbling. She had seen in him though something worthy and he... took it for granted. Didn't he? He likes to think he won't again.

But he likes to think a lot of things. He doesn't draw his hand back yet as he considers what's unfolding unexpectedly.

"That makes two of us, really," he admits though, to Ravus not knowing how to do anything by half-measures. Ardyn - then and now - feels so strongly, so intensely that he hardly knows what to do with all the emotions most of the time. On that note, what Ravus says does hit him... odd. Not enough, he claims, and Ardyn has to say: "Never let anyone make you feel as though you aren't enough. Least of all me." Anything he's willing to give is more than what Ardyn deserves, he knows, and yet here he is taking anyway. So, he doesn't have the right to ever believe what Ravus can provide is not enough.

If he's left a bit struck by the comment, it shows in the way Ravus is quiet a long moment. His only initial response is an owlish blink that betrays the surprise in hearing such a kind sentiment. It's not that he doesn't believe Ardyn is incapable of it, because he wouldn't be giving Ardyn these sorts of chances otherwise. But that perhaps he hadn't expected to hear it towards himself.

Ravus knows he has never been enough. It's not with self-pity or wallowing, but in the fact that one man could never hope to accomplish everything he'd tried to do. He'd doomed himself to failure, but couldn't force himself to stop either. The paradox of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. But that is Ravus as he sees himself. A concept, a goal, a shield. As a person? He's never been quite as sure, and offering this sort of vulnerability to Ardyn makes his heart do funny things in his chest.

So perhaps he's a bit smitten. Can he be blamed after the gentle shock of his first kiss?

"Perhaps you are already showing your supposed lost charm," Ravus says, voice dipping low and appreciative. "I will try to hold fast to that kind sentiment. If not for myself, then because you have asked it of me." And with that kindness, Ravus offers his own back. The addition of, whatever it may be, 'you need only ask it of me.' For he has always been the sort to find satisfaction in the service of others. Dangerous and damning? Perhaps. But what else can he do?

They have more in common there than either of them realizes; how many times had Ardyn wished he could just stop himself? Yet, he was only denied by his own hubris and pride rather than out of any actualization. Granted, assimilating Ifrit's raging hatred towards humanity didn't help matters in terms of ever giving up on his conviction that it all needed to burn. (Ardyn's, or Ifrit's? Hard to say, these days.)

Ravus could have much better taste, Ardyn thinks, but isn't about to say any such thing aloud. Especially not when Ravus looks at him like he's done something right for once in all this with that ever intense gaze and appreciation tinging his tone. He had the help of his dragon soul, of course, but Ardyn will take more credit than he probably should on things turning out well. What else is new?

Regardless, he'll also try to at least give himself a bit more time before he inevitably shoots himself in the foot with all this. Before he does, in fact, ask Ravus for too much. "Kind? Me?" he questions, teasing. "What have you done to me already?" Yet, he knows to toe the line carefully - especially right now - between humorous self-deprecation and actual self-loathing.

"I'll do my best to keep it up but can't give any guarantees." Perhaps a bit too true to be genuinely funny, yet- Ardyn is worried, a little, that he's offering more than he can provide already too.

"I suppose only our first actual date together will be the best indicator. Which begs the question: When are you next free?"

Self-deprecating? Confirmation bias at its finest? Entirely likely, but Ravus doesn't seem to take it that way. He doesn't laugh or smile at the grim humor, but does tilt his head ever-so-slightly as if he's mulling it over.

"I do not ask for unknowable promises," he says after a moment, that intense mismatched gaze falling on Ardyn. An understanding brims in them, like he's had a quiet, private revelation of some kind. "Only effort." The same that has been asked of him recently. To try. It's only fair.

"As for schedules," Ravus trails off, a hand setting on his hip. "Well, I do not keep the rigorous hours I once did as the High Commander. I suppose unemployment has the benefit of giving me free time." The whole transplanted in another world bit remains unspoken, but it lingers there at the edge of his words. "Give me a bit of time to have something other than my coat tailored. If we're having a proper..." a date. He's going on a date with Ardyn, Astrals preserve him. His face flushes a bit darker, and Ravus clears his throat.

"If we're going on a proper date, I should like not to be dressed for combat... and you in something, anything, other than that."

He will try. Granted, his idea of 'trying' and someone else's might differ quite substantially. Ardyn has his dragon-soul to thank for course correcting currently, at least, and perhaps that will continue to be. Unfortunately, there's likely only so much that Jhank Troth will be able to circumvent. How do you save a man from himself when he's seemingly determined to ruin every good thing he might get?

"Which I'm happy to help fill otherwise, you realize," Ardyn is quick to offer, which- Does that make him seem more desperate? Maybe. Does he actually care? No! Shame is for losers! Maybe he wants to spend more time with Ravus, what about it! (He tells himself its to keep better tabs, but there is some part of him that just craves the familiar company. Especially considering the time he was from had meant years of isolation and Ravus was long gone.)

"Oh, of course," he says though, about his outfit. "It's fun, certainly, but this is casual wear. Not anything ideal for a date." Contrary to Ravus, Ardyn doesn't have any trouble labeling what it is. Actually? It's kind of fun. A date. Him! Them! Who would have thought? "The Fae and I have come to an agreement about fashion so- I'll consult them, but make sure my definition of tasteful and theirs is the same."

Maybe not even a dragon can save Ardyn from his own destruction, but that doesn't stop Ravus from trying, or naively believing this really can work. They won't know until that breakpoint. And Ravus has always been too stubborn to give up when he should. Besides, right now? He's utterly charmed.

Case in point: Ravus doesn't hear desperation. What he hears is something he still isn't fully accustomed too. That people want to be near him. After the dehumanizing way he'd grown accustomed to being looked at in Niflheim, the shock of that desire still rattles him. It's a good kind of shock, but shock all the same.

"Are you now?" Ravus mumbles, unsure what to even do or say to reciprocate that. What is it that people do with one another? He's only spent the empty hours training or anxiously working out contingency after contingency in those moments. For what few he was afforded, anyway. His voice colors with that helpless confusion, too. And a touch of hope for a lead. "I admit, I still have yet to figure out what to do with the hours. Perhaps you'll have better ways to fill them than I. After all," he trails off, then shrugs. If his usual dour expression lightens some, it can't be helped. Perhaps he's in a much better mood than he started this ridiculous party with. "You seem like just the type of man Highwind once warned me of: the ones that can always find something troublesome to get up to."

It's good that Ravus doesn't know this particular flavor of desperation, at least. It's also unfamiliar to Ardyn, honestly, at least when it came to people stuck in the same shitty situation as him in Niflheim. He'd discarded all of them eventually, but that's the thing: he believed he wouldn't regret doing what he had to, but here Ravus is giving him opportunities he never imagined possible and making him wonder. Had it been the best choice? At the time, he believed so. Now? It's harder to say.

He hates that, the way it gnaws at him. But he'd hate more not seizing these second chances now.

Although, speaking of chances: "I think the best way would be to fill me, but that's reserved for after a date - or a few - usually." Despite Jhank's best effort to squeeze his brain into submission and not say the crass, forward thing- Ardyn wins that particular mental battle. At least let him have one. "I don't look for trouble though, honest. It just tends to find me!" This is a lie. "At least I keep things interesting."

Ravus blinks.

What does that mean-

Except Thul is snorting in distaste in the back of his mind, and Ravus narrows his eyes as he mulls over why in all the hells Ardyn would phrase anything that way. And then it dawns on him. Because this is Ardyn, after all, and Ravus feels his face heat. A scowl curls his lips, and he shoves Ardyn back with a rough hand on his shoulder.

"Why must you say such things?" Ravus snarls, his cheeks a brilliant scarlet as he turns away to hopefully hide it. Unfortunately, for how pale he is, that's nearly impossible. "It certainly proves you do, in fact, look for trouble. Not that I needed further proof, mind you. So say nothing more of such... lewd... things."

For a moment, he believed it might have gone right over Ravus' head. Ardyn wasn't about to be fussed if it did. They've established already that the other man isn't the most experienced in these matters. Still, he's far too pleased with himself once it does appear to click. The shove gets a small 'oof' in response along with a good few chuckles.

"Okay," he concedes, "maybe I look for it occasionally." Always, but- Details! "I'll refrain on being so crass going forward though, not to worry." Will he, though? Only time will tell. He will try, which seems to be the running theme of this arrangement. Trying.

"You can't blame me though for wanting to see you blush. It's quite a cute sight." He is teasing, of course, but there's a hint of sincerity there. Ravus is so easy to fluster, how can he not want to do it more when he gets such a fun reaction?

Somehow, Ravus doesn't believe that. Not that he's calling Ardyn a liar... but, well, maybe he is. No one stumbles into that much trouble by some misfortune; even Ravus knows he seeks it. But he's willing to overlook that on the basis of giving fair chances.

He immediately regrets it, and scowls when the blushing is pointed out. Really? Cute of all things? He is not cute.

"I most certainly can. Now hush you," he growls back, trying to look menacing about the order. It's too much of a pout to be any thing of the sort, but Ravus won't be convinced of that either. And instead of letting Ardyn get another free shot in, he huffs and turns away to hide as much of his face as he can in the high collar of his coat. "You've had your fun and made me dally quite enough. You'll have to find another soul to menace until later."

He was, in fact, heading somewhere before all of this. A meeting he really shouldn't be late about. But before he goes, he does glance back to Ardyn, and bids him good night with a measure of reluctance that betrays the fact he's had a rather enjoyable time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT #1: FAE FESTIVITIES

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