2nd Event: Choices We Make

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Arrival


Not all characters (known as Wickie, singular or Wickies, plural) arrive at the same time, surprisingly enough! That’s life for you. Some Wickies find their way to the island at a pivotal (or very mundane) point in their life, or even after or during their death.

Wickies who were standing or walking often find themselves entering the town South Sister, located on Lighthouse Isle, through an open doorway. Those that were laying down, or sleeping, tend to be found lying prone in beds, bathtubs, showers, couches, and similar places within the cottages on Cottage Row. There’s no rhyme or reason to it all! To Wickies familiar with the era, they will realize that everything looks as if it’s come from the ‘90s.

The house which a Wickie finds themselves within could already be occupied. This includes walking into a fellow Wicke, waking up in the same location, or accidentally scaring a room full of people with their sudden appearance.

Oops.

C-C-Changes

Thankfully the fog has gone down to what it was before, a slow creeping crawl over the ground. And too, the monsters of before are gone, leaving the town much like it was before. Well...close to what it was before.

For now the season's have changed, from a lingering summer to a cooler fall.

There’s new foods to try, even if some things like lattes cause people to slip into warm boots and tie up their hair, and soups make people curl up under blankets on the couch. And it also means decorations of all sorts, made of the leaves from the forest, orange, yellow and red things and...we can not forget...

Pumpkin overflow

Pumpkins! They're everywhere. Wickies will find pumpkins infused into all sorts of things, like coffee, ice cream, even spaghetti options! It's wild.

There’s also many jack o'lanterns. They have been placed everywhere in town, outside homes, and even small ones have been made into table decorations. The Jack o lanterns have very cheerful faces, and seem to watch Wickies every single move.

That is, until a Wickie bashes or otherwise abuses a pumpkin. That's when it changes- there seem to be more of them. Their expressions change to that of anger, sadness and disgust. None of them attack- yet. But their faces become more and more horrifying, as they follow the Wickie more and more- outside of the bathroom perhaps, or found on top of them as the Wickie wakes up in the middle of the night.

It shouldn't matter right? They're only pumpkins.

What a ride

Funny enough, with the pumpkin invasion, there also comes a dull colored horse wandering about the island. Its head is drooped, and it looks depressed and lonely. The horse is tame on approach and will accept pats and treats, even from those who are obviously not human.

But it also wants something, for all that it seems to be begging for attention. It wants someone to ride them, seems to even be begging for it with its big eyes. The horse will help Wickies to figure out how to mount; it will even stand beside the Town Center benches, rocks, or even go down in order to make it possible for the Wickie to get onto the horse’s back.

That’s when it changes. The Wickie is immediately wrapped in chains from their barrel to the Wickie’s waist. The horse turns a coal black and the Wickie’s clothing changes into that of a soldier's uniform, with a hand either holding a whip modeled after a human spine, or a jack o'lantern.

The Wickie cannot get off the horse on their own, no matter how much they struggle. As the horse moves throughout the town, they will go anywhere from a walk to a full canter, seemingly impervious to any magic or physical attacks. The same cannot be said for their unfortunate rider.

If the rider is hit, or simply in pain, the Wickie will feel an impulse that grows and grows until they scream a name of someone in town, someone they know.

And the named will drop, paralyzed. Paralyzed wickie are likely to die within minutes, more so if they are too close to horse and rider. The horse will happily trample anyone on the ground to death.

Even without the impulse, should the Wickie rider use anyone’s name, that person will drop, paralyzed, and unable to breathe.

There is only one way to possibly save the rider: scatter golden objects in their path. The horse will shriek, and promptly buck the rider off, before running away. Just make sure to catch the rider, or at least cushion their fall: they have no way of saving themselves until they hit the ground.

Heart game: confession

Current residents of the island may remember this particular beeping alert, and how it doesn’t go away, no matter what they do! That is, unless they open up the Heart Game, and answer the question.

Welcome back everyone! It’s so good to see you again! Now let’s play that game, Confession! And the question isssssss…

How do you celebrate the changing seasons! Don't be shy!

Comments

[morgrim]

[Look at you, boss, already settled in and ready for the moment when Shigure continues to prove it was a terrible idea for you to give him a position of power and expect him to do anything useful. Your faith in him is inspiring.]

Haven't been here long enough to start, but I'm sure you already figured that.

[Otherwise he'd be searching for someone to fight, but for the time being he's content enough to watch this. Though after a moment he shrugs a bit, the shoulder that isn't supporting Stormhowl raising half-heartedly before he settles.]

Seems like you've adapted well enough. Is Innominat around?

[armati]

[Strangely enough, he hasn't deeply regretted it yet. Ensure that it stays that way.

That said, the question isn't one he's partial to; "is the Suppressor here", as though it's something that can just be asked like that. He doesn't look back over, he just shakes his head.]

No. Not as far as I can tell.

[morgrim]

[It gets a brief nod in acknowledgement as Shigure considers it. It's a bit of a shame that Empyrean isn't here, but it wouldn't change things much even if he was. Artorius and Innominat have work to do back home, and they aren't going to be particularly interested in fighting him until they're done with all of that.]

I'm guessing you don't have any ideas about how to get back just yet.

[He inclines his head a bit to indicate the pumpkins.]

Unless you're thinking appeasing them's gonna provide some answers?

[...and now we're back to This, Artorius probably deserves better.]

[armati]

If you've any ideas yourself, I'll hear them.

[He has been here for five minutes.]

[morgrim]

[That's about what he was expecting, honestly...]

Nah, point me at a problem I can solve with Stormhowl and we'll be in business, but this is something you're better with.

[Because being dragged from your own world and dealing with terrible pumpkins is absolutely an Artorius problem. Yep. Definitely.]

[armati]

I don't disagree.

[Wow.]

[morgrim]

[It gets a short, loud laugh from him as he adjusts Stormhowl on his shoulder.]

Look at that, it's almost like you've got a sense of humor!

[maybe one day you will actually crack a joke...!! no, that's being way too ambitious.]

[armati]

[And that will get you a look and not much else, at least as far as that topic goes. ...As much of a look as he can spare, at any rate, seeing as he would prefer to know it if the pumpkin is going to do something unexpected, like biting him.

Anyway.]

I would suggest you remain vigilant, as little though you may truly need to. At least until we have our bearings a little more, and have become well accustomed with the way things are going to work.

[morgrim]

[He's absolutely not helping you if you get gnawed on by a pumpkin.]

Considering that these little guys are our welcome here, looks like this place is gonna be something else.

[Probably not a good or fun something else, but hey, maybe all the pumpkins will merge into a giant pumpkin daemon that can put up a fight.]

You don't have to remind me to stay vigilant, anyway.

[Another half-hearted shrug; it's not like he's the sort to ever seem like he's paying close attention, but that doesn't mean he isn't. This place really is quite different from what he's used to, after all.]

[armati]

[He knows better than to expect that you would... Though to be fair, they're only pumpkins. He somehow can't imagine their bite strength to be that powerful.

It's that second part that gives him pause, though; it takes him a brief moment to reply. He could tell him that he knows, because that's objectively true while not negating the fact that he felt the need to say it anyway; he could remind Shigure that they're in another world entirely, that he can't know what might be here and what might not, because that's also objectively true, but it's something they're both aware of in spades and he knows that.

Eventually, he settles.]

Prove it to me, then, and ensure that it remains that way. It would be unfortunate to risk losing an ally to overconfidence.

[morgrim]

Good to know you've still got so much faith in me.

[He's smirking as he says it, though; he's certainly not offended. This is how Artorius is, and it's exactly what he was expecting.]

But c'mon, you know I'm not gonna end up dying before I have a chance at you and Innominat.

[Unless something here can somehow prove to be even more of an exciting fight, but that sounds impossible. So he'll be fine, probably.]

[armati]

I'm aware of your intentions.

[Which is admittedly sort of a backhanded way of pointing out that things don't always work out according to plan, but he's always been more cautious than Shigure in that regard. So it's still backhanded, but not pointedly so.]

...I imagine you had a vision, when you arrived here.

[morgrim]

[As always, he's not bothered by the remark. Sometimes Artorius gets particularly snippy with him, and it's usually somewhat entertaining. But he lets it go for now, since Artorius has brought up something more interesting.]

I figured it was some sort of crazy dream. [Despite the fact that he definitely wasn't asleep.] You saw all that too?

[armati]

[He'd half-expected that to be brushed aside in favor of shrugging and an odd look; the fact that it isn't is...

Well, he's not sure what to think of that.]

I did. Tell me, what do you make of it?

[morgrim]

[Well, that's definitely getting the shrugging, at least.]

Like I said, I figured it was a dream.

[In other words, he's been ignoring it.]

It almost felt real enough to be some kinda illusion or something. [Not that he's ever been on the receiving end of Melchior's, so that's purely speculation.] What are your thoughts on it?

[armati]

An illusion...

[He nods, once that's out there.]

I'd be lying if I said that wasn't my concern, to be blunt. That something here can create something so vivid.

[morgrim]

Yeah. No idea if Melchior's are anything like that, but it was pretty damn convincing.

[So good thing it was short!!]

[armati]

...They're similar.

[Melchior's also just have this weird fever dream quality sometimes that wasn't quite present in this last one, but...]

[morgrim]

So it could be a similar sort of magic.

[He'd be surprised if this was somehow Melchior's doing given how damn weird everything's been so far here, but hey, who knows.]

Got any ideas on how to break free of an illusion?

[armati]

...While it may be something similar, it may likewise be something unique to this world. Most of the things here aren't the sort of thing we would think to create, after all.

[what the fuck is the phone, shigure.]

I'll look into it. Either way, I have no intention of remaining idle until whomever's done this decides they've tired of us.

[morgrim]

Hah, agreed. Once you've figured it all out, just point me in the right direction.

[armati]

Of course.