Monthly Rundown: Third Anniversary Edition!

[hadrielmods]

You got the fragments, you've journeyed across the seas, and - oh hey, it's Hadriel's third anniversary. Happy 3rd birthday of Hadriel, everyone! We've got some interesting stuff in store for you this time, so get ready for a wild month.

As always, if you ever have any suggestions or feedback you'd like to offer us mods, remember you can always drop us a line here! Also, please remember to hit up the Current AC post if you have AC for the month! Characters accepted in September do not require AC proofs, but we do require a check-in on the post!

OCTOBER PART 1: WE'RE ALL MAD HERE

Starting on October 2nd, when the fragments are united with the Door, shit gets weird. Remember those effects the fragments had on the people who found them? It's all that and more, as the residents of Hadriel are beset with erratic mood swings, tricks in their perception, and other eerie Door effects. This will last all month long as Sorrow and the other gods work on getting the Door under control. You didn't really think you could go home that easily, did you?

These effects won't be sustained throughout the entire month (unless that's what you want for your character) - they will come and go. So you might have four perfectly normal days, and then fly into a sudden rage one evening that ends in rivers of tears or declarations of love. You might spend a few hours wandering in complete confusion, not even sure where or who you are, before abruptly recovering and experiencing no other effects for the whole month. Or you might have near-endless ups and downs, severe mood swings that leave you and all your loved ones reeling.

As for perception tricks - well, this month it won't be uncommon to think you see something out of the corner of your eye. Maybe it's following you? Wait, was that window always there? Wasn't this shirt blue? These will be small things, mostly, but enough to make the whole world seem just a little off-balance. Things aren't always where you thought they were, and they aren't always what you thought they were. Your senses cannot quite be trusted, at least not all the time. So have fun with that, because these Door effects won't end until October 31st.

However, in one way the Door is still working as normal. On October 10th, the Door will open and a new crop of Hadrielites will arrive. However, instead of monsters, the colosseum will be littered with Echo Flowers from the video game Undertale.

Echo Flowers are bioluminescent blue plants that have the ability to repeat the last sound they were exposed to, echoing it for a time before descending into static. These flowers might echo the words of the new arrivals upon waking - or they could say something more familiar, something you remember and that they should never have heard. Or maybe that's just the Door acting up again?

OCTOBER PART 2: GIFTS FROM THE DOOR

'The Door acts up' is pretty much the story of this month. In addition to the ongoing mental and emotional effects, it seems to be entirely out of control - and that means a lot of strange stuff coming in.

First, on October 5th, items will begin appearing all across Hadriel, including possibly in your house. Some of these might be familiar, while others could be unlike anything you've ever seen - but somebody else might recognize them. Because, of course, all of these are being brought from other worlds.

They will be small or medium-sized common items, nothing valuable, powerful, rare, or particularly useful. Some examples would be: a book you read as a child, a pair of cheap earrings, a bottle of Coca-cola, a change purse full of chocolate coins. They don't have to have emotional significance, and we are leaving it up to you to decide what you might find. However, if you are unsure about whether something is allowed, please ask us! They'll appear here and there across the city until October 8th. Unlike many of the other things appearing this month, they will remain after the event is over.

Then, not too long after the new folks arrive, on October 12th, something else will begin to appear. This time it's monsters. That's right, the Door may not have brought terrifying monsters in with the new people, but maybe that means it was just saving up energy to bring in even more. Let's hope you're ready to fight - or lock your doors and hide for a few days.

Much like the items, there will be all different kinds of monsters appearing all across the city. Once again we're leaving this up to you, as the Door will be pulling from all different sorts of worlds and plopping its newfound... pets...? down in the middle of Hadriel. Anything small enough to fit through the 8x4 Door can appear, and power levels can be all over the place, though of course if you want an especially powerful creature to appear please talk to us first. The only thing all these monsters will share is danger: there's no cute, cuddly pets coming through, only sharp-toothed creatures with a taste for people. On October 17th, the Door will suck all those monsters back through it, leaving none remaining in Hadriel.

We will not be making OOC posts for either of these events, so please feel free to use this post to plot and ask questions!

OCTOBER PART 3: OLD FRIENDS AND NEW

Finally, as the month begins to draw to a close, the Door will fluctuate one more time. This time, instead of items or monsters, it'll bring in people. Yes, that's right - it's time for a Fourth Wall event.

From October 22nd-30th, the city will fill with, well, whoever you (and anyone else) want to bring. They'll appear suddenly and disappear just as suddenly, but in the intervening time you'll have plenty of opportunities to meet new people and old friends, find a familiar face or two, and let all that emotion coursing through the city take over. Logistically, this will work like our previous Fourth Wall event, in that we'll post a log and let people play whoever they like on it, but visitors will not have access to the network.

We'll put up an OOC post about this event later in the month, so please keep an eye out for that, and get all your extra character journals ready!
TO RECAP...

► October 2nd-31st: Emotional and mental effects across the city
► October 5th-8th: Item Event
► October 10th: Intro log!
► October 12th-17th: Monster Event
► October 22nd-30th: Fourth Wall Event
► October 24th-31st: Activity Check
As a final note, our schedule for the month is viewable on the calendar!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[hadrielmods]

[puzzlingly]

Can people find more than one thing from their worlds? Like some weird candy of different brands or cans of coffee (with coffee...)?

If yes, what are your thought on having a bunch of Duel Monsters cards appear everywhere? Just game cards, nothing special in the way that they hold ancient monsters spirits or anything.

[dedikated]

Regarding the shards, characters can still keep them rather than turning them over to the gods, right? And if so, is there any information about what will happen then?

[completelycrazy]

HELLO MODS would it be possible to uproot the echo flowers to keep them longterm? like in a house planter or a garden or something? >.>

oh and quick thing: i think the recap dates might be a lil wonky? they're not quite lining up with the dates in the main post

[braveoff]

Less an event question and more a mechanics one!

Last fourth wall, the end of the event lined up with apps closing/the next intro log, so characters that clicked and decided to app in didn't vanish in between the event and the Door surge. If I remember correctly they just got phones/added to the network/a sense of "wtf I am I stuck here?!"

This time around if someone apps their character will be missing for ten days in between, so will they have to come in fresh or can they remember fourth wall antics test drive meme style? I've got a handful of people considering the game that are going to use fourth wall this month to see if it's a fit and just want to confirm!

[synthedick]

Question! So if a monster comes in and someone kills it or scavenges parts from a dead one because some dumb cleric wants some fangs for his shrine and crab monsters just don't cut it reasons, do the parts remain even after all the monsters have been sucked back through the Door?

[fogsong]

An item question for Faith: Would it be possible for a barrel of liquid Bliss to be brought in? It's about the size of a 55 gallon steel drum and filled with, obviously, the nonaddictive (but somewhat dangerous) drug known as Bliss. The liquid form can bring people back from the brink of death but it's also a little on the explosive side when in such a tight container.

It could also be a smaller steel drum, if that would be better!

[abyssalarcana]

Just double-checking - I see for the last event someone asked if 4th wall visitors could leave items behind, and the answer was no. Is that still the case this time as well?

MONSTER ROLL CALL

[braveoff]

I thought it might be useful to keep track oocly of who's bringing in what monsters this month, both for a sense of scale and just planning cool fight threads. There may also be monsters super relevant to players from a different canon entirely and we'll see awesome cr opportunities!

Go nuts, folks, what nightmares are you throwing at us?

KALUGRA

[synthedick]

At least one of these things from Carlisle's world is coming in. They don't use supernatural abilities themselves, but they're huge, aggressive, surprisingly fast for their bulk, and fairly resistant to both magic and physical damage, so they might be good for some folks looking for an upper-mid tier level of danger.

Robbie the Rabbits + the Mannequin Monster

[fogsong]

Robbie the Rabbit is the adorable mascot for the Lakeside Amusement Park. He comes in a variety of colors, yellow, green, blue, but most commonly pink. He's fuzzy with a great grin on his oversized head. There's also... some blood on him and some of him seem to carry heavy lead pipes or chainsaws or even a shotgun. Chances are, you'll hear his high pitched, squeaky laughter before you see him.

A single mannequin monster will make an appearance. This spider-like creature is fast, terrifying, and powerful. It carries with it mannequin heads in its many arms and each head appears to be able to make facial expressions as if they feel something. This monster has a preference of female characters and, should it manage to grab a woman, it will then turn them into a mannequin themselves, violently rip their head off, and add it to their collection. That doesn't mean male characters shouldn't be afraid; it might not have an interest in turning them into a part of it's creepy body but it will still happily tear them apart and try to chew them with their little mouth.

MIRELURKS

[offloaded]

Since we're on an island, mirelurks feel appropriate! They're giant crab-esque creatures with pincers and heavy duty shells, probably about a medium level threat. You've gotta hit them in the face to really take them out. I'm specifically looking at the "glowing mirelurk" variant that does radiation damage on contact, though all mirelurks are technically radioactive. You can eat them and apparently they're pretty tasty, but you take rads.

ROMEROS

[braveoff]

I don't have a wiki or anything for iZombie-flavored zombies, but basically a romero is what happens when one starves to the point of losing sapience. They're pretty classic -- visibly rotting, nonverbal and snarling, a bit shambly until they catch the scent of a human then they're very strong and determined. All they want is to smash your head open for a snack. They only eat brains, so they go for the head and will leave the rest of the body alone.

They're pretty easy to kill compared to a fresh or sapient raging zombie, just aim for the head! But of note: they are super contagious! A scratch or bite will turn you, and the effect of that is pretty instant. If you were ill or injured that just doesn't matter anymore, and you'll start craving brains yourself. Within a few hours you'll go super pale and your hair will start turning white, and soon enough the hunger is impossible to ignore.

Hit me up if you get scratched? Drake can give you the team z talk.

[closerift]

From Dany's world are coming manticores, which are basically aggressive and deadly scorpion beasties. From Cecily's comes deepstalkers, which are essentially disgusting cave raptor... things.

Good times.

Did you want MORE DEMONS??

[abyssalarcana]

Because have I got good news for you!

Some of Hadriel's citizens will recognize the Dretches from before, now accompanied by small packs of Manes as well. Both creatures are slow, simple-minded, and seek to get their teeth and claws on anything they can. Dretches are a little bit tougher and stink a whole lot more. Manes are a lot more cowardly and will run and hide if they think they're outmatched.

Want more of a challenge? Straight from Caedra's front yard are a few Jariliths - demonic cats ranging from bobcat-like to tiger-like in size and power, usually possessing horns, porcupine-like manes of quills, spiked tails, poisonous fangs, or a shroud of icy mist. They're variable, intelligent, adaptable hunters, and they love to play with their food.

Lastly, at least one Armanite will come to greet the city. This tall, powerful demonic centaur-like creature seems to have iron-plated hide growing as a sort of exoskeleton over its body. It carries a long electrically-charged lance in its clawed hands, and its flank is branded with the symbol of the demon lord Amamot which at least a couple of you may have seen around here somewhere else...

How Bout Some DnD Monsters

[nowherewolf]

Can't beat the classics!

First off, the displacer beast, a monstrous, six-legged jaguar with two claw-tipped tentacles. But it doesn't just have more sharp, pointy bits to worry about, it can also "displace" itself, (hence the name,) meaning it casts a natural illusion that makes it appear to be standing just slightly off from where it really is. This makes it incredibly hard to hit, and difficult to know where all those slashy limbs are coming at you from. Good luck!

Now how about some gelatinous cubes? They're pretty much exactly what they sound like, big blocks of animated goo that suck in anything they touch that they can overpower, and gradually digest it over time. They're hard to spot at first, looking like clear glass, but the floating remnants of past meals might be a giveaway. The Cube is hard to kill due to its high hp, but at least it's slow?

And finally, a death dog! This is a nasty, two-headed dog-like beastie with a bite that slowly rots flesh. They are, unfortunately, quite evil, and would be nigh impossible to tame as a fun pet.

One of each of these is fine, unless you for some reason want more! Just don't want to overwhelm the city.

lapahns

[deviledlegs]

Bringing in something a tad bit cuter. Comparatively anyway. From Sanji's world, the lapahns are large, violent rabbit-bears that will be very pissed to have to share such tight quarters with a bunch of other species. Have fun with that.

A handful of horrors from the Witcher and a Demodog!

[thanks_bunches]

There will be a Botchling crawling around the city/islands. Botchlings rise from the ground after being given improper burials. They are stillborn babies without names. They come back cursed and hunt down those that buried them via Blood Ties.

A Wraith. They appear near cemeteries or in homes they inhabited during their lives. They usually have no memories and are guided strictly by hatred towards the living. May they rest in peace.

A Swamp hag. They dwell near shallow streams, rivers, and wetlands. Though bulky, they are excellent swimmers. They can even swim through thick mud with astonishing agility, surfacing beside their victims to attack them with their sickle-shaped claws.

And lastly a few Nekker they're like drowners but a bit worse.

As a bonus, I'll be setting free some demodogs from Stranger things in their various stages.

WIGHTS - GAME OF THRONES

[northerndragon]

[super late but I've been super busy!]

Wights are ice zombies, pure and simple, but they don't necessarily follow the most common zombie lore (e.g. they don't eat people/brains/etc).

They have an instinct to kill, with either weapons or with pack tactics and tearing people apart. They have glowing blue eyes. They are half-rotted, they show signs of whatever injury killed them (things like an axe to the head), and if they are dismembered, they keep going until they're fully dead (that means that a cut off hand will keep moving independent of the moving body); they are also physically very strong. They can shamble or move quickly, depending on the state their physical body is in, how agitated they are, etc. Normal weapons don't work on them. There are several things that will kill them, but fire is the only one available to the average person in Hadriel -- and they're extremely flammable!

Wights don't have to be human, though nonaggressive animal species wights won't attack. That means that a bear wight is dangerous; a horse wight or an elk wight probably isn't, but you can use your imagination.

Also, Jon can help people kill wights: I'm pretty sure he has the only Valyrian steel weapon currently in the game, and it also works. But other canons' "+10 Against Undead" Magical Swords won't work at all -- they'd be just like a regular sword, much like Valyrian steel isn't going to work where silver is required.

Obsidian is a third option for killing, if anyone happens to have it, but I thought it was too useful for the monsters part of the event for me to have it come up in the "items" part of the event.

Here's the good news: White Walkers and the Night King are, tmk, too sapient for this event. That means that it's not possible for anyone the wights kill to be turned into a wight themselves this time around.

a dragon

[hot_mes]

Just the one, though!

Lapahns are more fun but this little dragon is a piece of shit. It's actually fairly small, as it was artificially created by Dr. Vegapunk on Punk Hazard - it fits through regular-sized lab corridors and was used to pull sleds in the snow. It's an absolute asshole though, bent solely on killing anything it sees. It flies and breathes fire, has pretty sharp teeth, extremely tough hide, and a tenacious personality. If you try to tame or befriend it you will simply end up as barbecue. Caesar had to drug it to make it docile enough to hitch to a sled so...

GIFTS FROM THE DOOR

[abyssalarcana]

Hey all, what are people bringing in from their characters' worlds? Let's get a list going so we know what everyone can run into out there!

[hot_mes]

Law's just getting a medical text so if anyone has wanted to approach him but doesn't have an easy in, there you go. Given One Piece it's probably half in English, half in Japanese, reads right to left instead of left to right, and mentions Devil Fruit somewhere.

[abyssalarcana]

Hey you guys want some weird Abyssal items? Here's a few that will be around and up for grabs:

COFFEE. Roasted beans wrapped in paper packaging - or is that actually just very thin tanned hide? Yeah it's not paper. Writing on it will look absolutely alien and weird, but it smells like coffee, and it is. I think we all could use some.

Demonic pendants! As modeled by Caedra's nice and not at all evil son here (or see the icon used for this comment). Unlike hers, these have no inherent power, they're just an iron trinket in the shape of a bull's head over a double-armed cross that in her world indicate some form of allegiance to the demon lord Amamot.

Oca flowers. A foot-long spray of brillant orange blooms on a stalk as hard as metal and covered in inch-long thorns. Nice for a bouquet to give to someone you don't actually like. Or maybe you do, maybe thorns are your thing, I'm not gonna judge.

[vocarrah]

Good-Luck Charms: If you visited Ianchus in the Clinic you might have one of these, so if you needed a reason to approach him, there you go!

Questionable Reading Material: You might find a couple of books with detailed illustrations of torture implements, just think of those old-timey wood-block prints. There'll also be historical books about rulers of old, with maybe more gruesome pictures.

Basically a lot of this

It's all written in Cephean, though, whoops! Maybe he can translate.

Thistle Tea: It has a mild flavor and a lovely light color when you brew it!

[such_a_teez]

♠Cigarettes
Packs of cigarettes will be showing up! Partials, some crushed, and all of a brand that has a distinctive scent and flavor that's not really quite like other types of cigarettes. Probably very cheap cigarettes. Nothing worth smoking unless you're particularly desperate.

♥A doll
This one, specifically.

♠Books
6 Victorian era timeline appropriate books will show up. A couple will seem well worn and loved, mystery novels. The others include a bible, a story about dogs, and the other two textbooks.