EVENT #4: RISE TO THE CHALLENGE!

[aionmods]

Rise to the Challenge!

While nothing so drastic as what was inflicted by the Innocent, as Visoseri's full moon approaches, a curious sensation will be felt in the air by Horos's Visionaries. They will feel empowered, somehow, as if they have the strength to reach the heights they have so often dreamed of, becoming the truest versions of themselves. What's more, they will discover that they now have the strength to call out this potential from others. The spirit of the Visionary has arrived to demand your passion, your improvement, your glorious transcendence... and when it asks, you'll find it almost impossible to say no.

This event will last from the 10th to the 25th of Visoseri.

❖ INCLUDED EVENT PROMPTS

◆ RISE TO THE CHALLENGE! (VISIONARY): Blessed by the power of the Visionary's Moon, Horos's Visionaries will find themselves able to issue magically charged 'challenges' to other Aions. Similar to offering a 'dare', these challenges have the potential to apply a compulsion affect to those they spoken to. Once heard, the receiving Aion will feel the insatiable urge to fulfill the objective they have been given to their highest ability, the need to complete it haunting their thoughts until the event period ends. Sometimes, this compulsion will go as far as convincing the affected Aion that it was their idea in the first place. Once their objective has been completed the compulsion will leave them. These challenges can be made either intentionally or accidentally.

However, this is not without caveats. The challenge cannot simply be any command that the Visionary finds convenient, it must specifically encourage the character to fulfill their potential in some way, such as testing their skills, following through on a task they were not brave enough to do normally, or anything that could fall under the concept of "high risk, high reward." Challenges cannot be anything that is objectively detrimental to the character receiving it, such as straightforwardly harming themselves or performing acts that will only cause them trouble. The more in line with a character's nature the challenge is, the stronger the compulsion effect will be, while inversely, challenges completely against their nature will have severely reduced potency.

Though not foolproof, Visionaries will be better able to contact characters via communion during this event, even if they would normally be on someone's theoretical 'block list', or if their Shard is not exposed. However, while this compulsion effect is very strong ICly, please remember there must be allowances made for OOC comfort. If a command is not OOCly desired, it can be said that the compulsion simply fails to take hold due to fluctuations in Horos's magical energies or because the receiver somehow managed to avoid internalizing what they were told to do.

An Aion can only be under the effect of one challenge at a time.

◆ RISE TO THE CHALLENGE! (CHAMPION): Through their shared traits of mastery and self improvement, the excess of the Visionary's power will wash over into those of the Champion Legacy. Champions will find themselves able to issue challenges in a manner similar to their Visionary cousins, the only difference being that they will only have enough power to issue one or two challenges total.

◆ LIVING FOR THE CHALLENGE: If an Aion has received and completed a challenge from a Visionary, they will find themselves able to issue one challenge to another character in turn. This challenge will follow the same rules as the Visionary version and can be issued either intentionally or accidentally. Only completed challenges that were initially made by a Visionary will have this bonus effect.

◆ GREENTRUTH: While the abundant energies affecting Horos are uncommon, what isn't unusual is Greentruth's appreciation for Tehri, their patron Aion and noted Visionary. Seeing Visoseri as an unofficial celebration of her presence, Greentruth's people treat it rather like a birthday, making small offering of letters, gifts, flower crowns, and other treats to her as the full moon approaches.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[aionmods]

Ask the mods any lingering questions you may have about the above information.

[warmare]

Hello, mods! Hope this is the right place to ask--

Hayame has been really torn on how much to devote her service to these Pleroma people and more just on if it's even worth trying to survive in this crazy place, and I think if there's buzz about Tehri this month she might try to find a way to demand (er, ask) a meeting with this so-called leader in order to judge what she's doing here/if it's worth the absolute struggle of playing nice with others. I know y'all said in the State of the Game that NPC threading is kind of swamped atm, but would it be possible to 1) have Hayame meet with Tehri and 2) get a summary or quick chat of how that might go/what the sort of "official" Pleroma pitch is/how she'd respond to being asked why the resistance deserves allegiance/what her answer is to 'are our worlds okay/can we get back'?

Thanks so much for your time!

[aionmods]

Yes, we can definitely swing that. Would you be able to explain how Hayame would approach with these questions? Is it specifically "Are our worlds okay" and "can we get back"?

[warmare]

Thank you very much! When it comes to how Hayame would phrase her questions, she’d be asking things liiiiike this:

▶︎ “Are those Kenoma people correct? Are our worlds… gone?”
▶︎ If given any indication that they are not gone: “Then how are we supposed to return to where we belong? You are still here…”
▶︎ “What foul magic brought us here in the first place? Chose us?”
▶︎ “Why do these people follow you? What has made you the leader here?”
▶︎ “What is it you expect of these Pleroma who gather here?”
▶︎ “And I? You think to have my bow?”

Essentially questions about the general situation here that she wants Tehri’s personal take on and questions trying to find out if she really should cast her lot in with Pleroma or attempt to just die or live like a cryptid somewhere believing this is all some strange hell.

Despite the fact that she’s very obviously… super close to a mental break over how different this world is to hers + being about 100 pounds of rage and upset in a 99 pound sack… Hayame will try to rein herself in and not lose her temper and offer up a modicum of respect towards the woman for her rank in the Greentruth area.

[aionmods]

To her first two questions, Tehri would say that they don't know if the Kenoma are correct, only that everyone has reported the same visions before their rebirth. But she would warn Hayame that the Regent has a long history of spreading lies and misinformation, so anything they claim should not be trusted.

Subsequently they don't know how to return and she is not aware of anyone to have returned to their world, unfortunately. Though she keeps her composure, there is some longing to be noted in that. Some Aions have reported that they dream of their home to a realistic degree and during those times it is difficult to sense their shard, though they are still markedly on Horos, or somewhere near it.

Tehri would say that there is no confirmable type of magic behind the Aions being brought to Horos but that the Regent claims credit for it. As for why each Aion is chosen, what she does know is that there are characteristics to each Aion that they always align to a specific legacy. Tehri believes that Horos can only be balanced when all Legacies are fulfilled, but she stresses that's her personal theory and nothing more.

When her leadership role is questioned, Tehri will be quiet for a moment and clasp her hands together. She will say that after the last war, there were several vacancies that needed to be filled and she wanted to see that the people of Greentruth were looked after in the way that her mentors once had. She claims that she is one of many leaders in the Resistance but has been the only Aion for a few decades.

What she expects of the Pleroma who gather in Greentruth is nothing. What she hopes is that they can flourish and find their place in this world, for it is the world they have been given for now. She would stress that she wants each Aion to assess their own desires and that it is their choice if they want to join the Resistance. They will not pull the same tricks as the Regent (her voice belies her disdain for their tactics) and want everyone to know that victory is not guaranteed, that the fight may be hard and long, so it is a decision not to be made lightly.

And for those that do join the Resistance, they will find a group dedicated to ending the Regent's reign on Horos and freeing all other worlds from their clutches.

If Hayame wants a bow, whether she joins the Resistance or not, one can be procured for her. She only needs to ask.

[warmare]

Thank you so much for the info, mods!

Hayame will be visibly... very unsure, since she doesn't have the more personal experience with the Regent and his tactics like the original round Aions did, but. She will thank Tehri for her time (sort of genuinely, it's just hard to tell cause of the resting bitch face) before excusing herself for a good, long brood think.

[vapour]

This isn't exactly related to the event specifically, but it's just something I was thinking of doing this month and it doesn't seem substantial enough going into the "story plotting" area. Hopefully it's okay to ask here.

1. Although Childe usually makes all his weapons out of water, I want to get him some dual blades. Where would be the best place for really good weapons of this sort and would it require more than coin? D
I don't need to know the details ATM, I can later request them on story plotting if it's an involved process, but just curious about the process.

2. I saw Ari's plotting about going to Godsblood in story plotting, so if this isn't okay due to the circumstances, I can easily have Childe go another time! I was just curious if it's possible for a Kenoma aion to go undercover and just wander/observe/simply look around? He won't do anything or ask any questions, he's just curious to see what a place like Godsblood is made of (in terms of people and environment.)

Also, I was interested in their fishing just because Childe loves fishing, but after reading the discussion thread with Ari, I'm guessing they won't be very okay with a stranger wanting to go fishing in their reefs for fun?

I technically had plans to have Childe meet with Himeka so I'm ultimately curious if Godsblood can work for that or if it should be somewhere outside of it where fishing is also available.

Thanks very much!

[aionmods]

1) They can get weapons that are well built in the Citadel for free. As for anything better than that, you'll need to gives us an idea of where he is looking.

2) Yes, he can go look around Godsblood if he isn't investigating or trying to 'gain' anything from it. Just straight up touring for the info on the Godsblood page isn't a problem. He can fish a bit if he doesn't make a big show out of it. It's mostly the Guilds and their activities that are off limits. If he spends a lot of time fishing some of the locals might tell them to get our of their fishing holes though.

[vapour]

He just wants to have a good set in the case of something unexpected. The only thing that I can think of that he might like on them that makes it potentially iffy are some kind of collapsible/slideable blades so they aren't so obviously weapons. Is that too much for the Citadel?

Okay, got it! He will go about it and put the fish back that he catches unless there are some really neat looking fish he might be able to catch.

[aionmods]

Do you mean like a butterfly knife? If not, do you have any examples?

[vapour]

I was thinking of something else, but now that you reference a butterfly knife that is probably the most practical mechanic to go with in terms of concealment, so yes!

[aionmods]

Then, yes, he can get something like a butterfly knife!