Day 2: Morning

[wizardseason]

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: March 17th - March 25th March 31st, 2019 (Buffer week added) ]

It's a bright new morning and the first monster has been defeated, the first hurdle has been cleared and everything is going great. The heroes should be feeling good, everything should be going according to plan. Especially because when the heroes wake up this morning, they'll be treated to a set of kigurumi pajamas themed after their animal companion sitting right beside them. Each set has a little note on it that says "From me to you" with a stylized "Wizard" signature beside it.

The morning should prove fairly uneventful. In striking comparison to the first day, the island is much quieter than it was before. Instead, the day's celebration is centralized on the train that circles the island. One eight-car train is circling the entire island, taking a little over an hour and a half to make its circles. It's 30 minutes between each city and the train isn't stopping. Each car on the train is open and any hero can board it free of charge. There are party cars, food cars, and lounge cars to enjoy on the trip around the island. There are also some commemorative prints and products available near the caboose of the train, some sellers having already gotten hard at work to create products to sell. They're seeking to get a seal of approval from the heroes themselves on them!

For the Princess and the Protector as well as the Wizard and her evil-allured knights, their dream threads will go on until the Second Monster arrives.

Most importantly, a certain knight has a message for the rest of his allies at the bright and early hour of 6:30am.

Second Morning Event: All Cities: The Celebration Train.

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The Weather

• Slightly Windy.
• 64°F / 18°C
• The trees are rustling, flower petals in the air.

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Prompts:

• 6:30am Punch Club, Bamborough: A message reaches the group with... an attached video? Opening the file shows Garrot staring straight at his phone's camera with a big smile. "Rise and shine, team!"


• x:xxam Train Ride: The party train is available for any hero who finds it. It'll be rolling through Far Haven at 6am, 7:45am, 9:30am, and 11:15am. It'll be rolling through Bamborough at 6:35am, 8:20am, 10:05am, and 11:50am. It'll be rolling through Craydon at 7:10am, 8:55am, 10:40am, and... well, this post only goes until noon. The next stop in Craydon is out at 12:25pm which is in monster arrival territory. While on the train, your hero can get up to anything. Will they discuss with the others what they think of the first line of hero products? Does this action figure look funny? Do these stickers look okay? Discuss and deal with vendors or just party it up elsewhere on the train!


• 10:30am, Power Plant, Far Haven: Social Media is abuzz that the Wizard has made an appearance in the power plant in Far Haven. She could wipe power out to the whole island if she wanted to, she could turn the connections to chocolate, or she could just be standing around. She hasn't done anything as far as the cell phone videos show, but is that going to last?


• 11:30am, Relaxing Time, Craydon: The residents of craydon, with the assistance of some of their kids, sent out invitation videos to ask the Princess and knights if they wanted to drop by Craydon and join in a meditation session. They're going to meditate outside, in the woods, and relax as much as possible before the next monster arrives. The residents of Craydon are emphasizing how important it is to keep mentally healthy above all else. Which of your fellow heroes have joined in on this session?

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Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Comments

[sustainer]

He snorts, covering his mouth for a second. Fair, Luka, fair.

"That's funny. Yeah, they're... they're different. Meditating clears my thoughts out, so I can fall asleep without my mind... racing, I guess. You know what I mean, right? When your head is like..." And he makes this vibrating gesture with his free hand. Pauses. Then taps sort of wildly at the top of Luka's hand instead. "Like that."

[eutychia]

"How do you just... clear your thoughts, though? When my mind gets like that, I put on music. Gives me something else to focus on. If I didn't have that, I'd never get any peace from my own thoughts sometimes."

[sustainer]

"It takes practice," he says, pausing a moment in thought. His eyes drift around them, noting that they've put enough distance between themselves and the crowd that they can probably talk in peace. First though, he adds, "My mother taught me, so I guess it comes naturally to me by now."

[eutychia]

"Maybe you could teach me sometime. I'm going to need if it certain voices keep popping into my head uninvited," he says with a laugh.

Really, The Protector hadn't shown himself to be anything but helpful --if a little mysterious, but the concept of having someone in his head felt slightly intrusive to Luka sometimes.

[sustainer]

"I'd love to~" he says, and his voice is this warm purr. "Anything to help the princess get a little piece of mind."

He pauses a moment after that, guiding them carefully over a set of roots pushed up through the ground before he lets his curiosity take him back to the reason for this conversation in the first place.

"Does he really talk to you all the time? Or... or do you just dream about him?"

[eutychia]

"It's kind of both? Sometimes he'll say something when I'm awake, but I can really talk to him in my dreams," Luka says, keeping his focus on the terrain as much as he can. "I visited him last night, actually. I learned a lot."

[sustainer]

He pauses briefly, wondering if he should ask for more? He did say he wanted to listen, he supposes, and he murmurs quickly, "There's a step down right... here."

Once he's made sure Luka's not going to trip, he finally asks, "About him? About the... all of this?"

[eutychia]

"Mmm," Luka ponders, stepping down carefully. "Not about him, really. Mostly about the Wizard, and what she wants. There was so much more I could have asked, now that I think about it."

[sustainer]

"Do you think you'll see him again tonight?" he asks, a careful curiosity in his voice. He pauses a moment there, and then uh wait.

"What did he say she wants? Is it different then you thought?"

[eutychia]

"I can see him any time I sleep, I think. I'll see him tonight." Luka looks as if he's deciding what to say next.

"It seems like there was some real beef between the Wizard and Protector. Like personal beef, if you get me. I can try to pry out more details if you're curious but he's not really big on 'spilling the tea.'" He says, using a free hand to mime air quotes.

[sustainer]

"Spilling the tea..." he repeats softly back. He saw the fingers. He knows it's some kind of euphemism or idiom, but he sounds absolutely lost in this moment. He actually has to shake his head to keep himself on topic, clearing his throat roughly.

"More information can't hurt, right?" He would love to know more, truthfully, and here's yet another pause as he weighs his options. He would like to talk to the protector himself, honestly, and he ends up cautiously offering, "Can other people come too? Maybe you and I could get more out of him then just one person alone..."

[eutychia]

"Well... it's possible. He actually requested for me to bring a few people tonight. I'll ask him if it's alright if I bring you." Luka knows he could easily pull Gyre in with the others, but he's not entirely sure its a good idea. After all, Gyre's alliance isn't confirmed good. He could be gathering intel for the Wizard.

[sustainer]

"Mm, okay," he murmurs, letting out this slow sigh through his nose. He has to press his disappointment down, keeping it out of his voice for now, "I guess I can always just ask you if he says no."

[eutychia]

"Mmm." Luka replies, as if his mind is elsewhere.

He recalled the Protector's words -- that he would be with him wherever he went-- and wondered if he could speak to him in that moment. He focused his thoughts on the Protector's voice. Luka didn't know if this was how it's done, but it was his best shot.

Are you here?

[wizardseason]

Sure enough, the Protector answers when called. His presence arrives before his voice does, the unmistakable feeling that Luka isn't alone. There's the faint sound of waterfalls around him when he speaks.

I am.

[eutychia]

Are you hearing this? Gyre wants to speak to you, but I don't know if it's safe to pull him into my dreams. Can he hurt you?

[wizardseason]

He cannot. He will not be able to enter your dreams like the good knights. Unless you choose him after the sixth monster.

The Protector leaves it unexplained, assuming that Luka will realize he's talking about the buff that the Princess can grant to knights as the monsters are defeated. One at 6, and then one each after 8 through 12. But if Luka doesn't catch that that's what he means, he'd better ask.

[eutychia]

Oh. Well. I guess that settles that.

I'll see what he wants to ask you. I still don't trust him. Not that he's really given me any reason not to... but you can't be too sure. Anything you want to say to him?

[wizardseason]

It is wise to be wary of unknown threats. See if he would stand by and watch the world be destroyed.

[eutychia]

I think it would be... suspicious to just straight up ask him that. I'll have to be a bit more subtle or else he will probably just lie to us.

[wizardseason]

Very well. I trust you to handle it as you see fit.

And unless Luka asks for further information or ideas, the Protector's gonna leave him to it and fade out here. Call on him if you need him, Princess.

[eutychia]

Luka seems to snap back into the present moment, as if shaking out of a deep thought.

"Gyre?" he asks, trying to get his attention. "What is it you wanted to ask him specifically?"

[sustainer]

"Mm?" he answers the moment Luka tries to get his attention. The guy had seemed pretty deep in thought there for a second. He was actually starting to worry he'd overstepped with that last question, pursing his lips and holding his tongue for however long the other needed. Which is to say, the question catches him entirely off guard. He opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again.

"Oh I..." He pauses for a moment, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into an actual question. "Uh, I was mostly just curious to talk to him." Another pause, chewing his lip. He should try to give Luka some kind of question, since he's offering, right?

"I guess... I'm wondering if there's another way? We're made to do this every year and I... I wonder how long it'll be before fatigue overtakes us," he says, clearly thoughtful, clearly pondering his words even as he says them. "If that makes sense?"

[eutychia]

"You won't be able to speak to him directly just yet. But I can ask him that for you." Luka says. "I don't think there will be much in the way of an answer though. He told me this was some kind of bargain they struck, that every year we fight, and we buy another year of safety."

[sustainer]

"Thank you," he murmurs, appreciating that Luka will try at least, even if there isn't much hope of an answer. Or rather, the answer he'll get is one he won't like, if it's anything like what the other just said. Ugh.

"Why would he make a deal like that?" he can't help asking, skepticism clear in his voice. That seems like an Extremely Bad Deal to him.