A History of Light and Darkness: Event OOC Post

[eternitymods]

After receiving a strange missive, the Heroes of Light will be able to explore the Old Heranean Doll Museum, a small establishment within the Thilmit Border Post. The Old Heranean was build over a century ago to preserve and display a series of dolls that were discovered in the Dream Width. The dolls initially garnered decent interest, and even went on a tour of Vaikuntha with a troupe of puppetmasters, who used them in their show to recount some of the great legends of Heroes and Villains. Strangely enough, some of the Heroes of Light linkshell members may see small doll-versions of familiar faces. The museum's popularity soon waned, suffering from an out of the way location and growing competition in the form of Lavode's boutiques and especially the flashy entertainment of PuPuLand. These days, the museum is in disrepair. It is only open one day a week regularly, and also hosts several small events (it has been voted 'the most boring field trip of the year' three years running by Min'to schoolchildren). As the Day of the Thirteen Moogles draws nearer, strange things begin to happen in the museum. • Some of the strangely aggressive spectral monsters, who usually do not breach town borders, have found their way inside of the museum and have been attacking the few dedicated (or very bored) people who still visit the displays. • Speaking of the displays, some of them are...missing from their cases. Some of the dolls have resurfaced in odd places: in other sections of the museum, on the windowsills of local houses, and even in the local MogNet office. Law Enforcement has sighed heavily and grumbled about those darn prankster kids, getting up to their Moogle-Night shenanigans. • The workers in the buildings nearest the museum say they've heard strange sounds and seen lights in the windows long after operating hours are over and even on days the museum is closed. Maybe they are renovating? • Kupo nuts have being going missing from local supplies, moogles report. Nobody who is not a moogle seems particularly bothered by this, but local moogles are Very Concerned and insist they did not binge-eat them. They really have gone missing, kupo! • And most concerning, the curator, who is the sole employee of the museum, has not been seen for days. Her neighbors are starting to get worried. All this, combined with the weird message the Heroes received, have led some Heroes of Light to want to check out the museum. Heroes of Light can investigate the museum after receiving the message via MogNet. They can feel free to explore in groups of 2-8 people (groups will be self-determined). The doors will not be locked when they arrived, and the sign will read "Open", even if it looked like it said "CLOSED" from a distance. It's probably fine. There are Six Sections in the Museum. Groups can explore as many or as few of the sections, and go in (mostly) whatever order they choose. For the purpose of this event, there is no set 'map' of the museum. There are multiple rooms in each section, and characters can decide to explore more than one, skip entire sections, leave after exploring just one section, etc. Basically, you have the power to determine your path, and you can explore as much or as little as you want. The only exception to this is that you must explore at least one room in at least two sections of the museum in order to reach the Employee's Only section. When entering a room, a representative for the group will roll a D-6 (or use a Random Number Generator with similar odds) to determine what the group will encounter in the room. Will you get a trick trap or a treat? Fate will decide! 1 : Random Encounter- The party will encounter a ghost enemy. Ghost creatures have come from all around the world, so the players can choose an enemy from the bestiary to face. Fights can be handwaved, but if they are played out, the group can earn one Treat as loot from the battle. 2 : Treat- The party will find some sort of prize. There will be a comment section to request your prize from the mod team. We have created a list of prizes and will use RNG to award you one! Some of them may be useful (gil, a book, various small charms), a few may be harmful (try not to roll the Rupoor), but most are just fun (the greatly coveted Fat Chocobo Plushie is back again!). 3 : Trap- The party will trigger the trap for that section of the museum. A nebula similar to what the group has encountered in the Dream Width will manifest, shifting the reality the group perceives. More information in the Sections description. 4 : Clue- The party will find a piece of information that may help them find the source of the strange happenings. 5 : Enemy? Encounter- The party will be attacked by one or more dolls. Silent (mostly) and armed with needles, box cutters, and other small improvised weapons, the dolls' greatest strengths are their determination and their evasion abilities. When defeated, they will retreat, and they cannot be 'killed'. Players can choose which dolls they encounter from a list provides in the IC log, but for practical purposes, they will all have the same stats and abilities. The dolls do seem to get stronger the further the group gets in the museum. 6 : Dealer's Choice- The party can decide the effect, or they can choose no effect and take a break. A History of Dolls This section contains informational plaques about the dolls' discovery, the history of the museum, and a look at the doll-making methods that were likely used to create them. If a Trap is triggered here, a Dream Width-like nebula will create a barrier that shifts the perception of those who enter it. The walls of information shift and turn into a moving collage of eerie images. Porcelain faces, gilded cages, butterflies, shining crystals...they should be beautiful, but they all feel sinister. Enemies encountered while in this Witch's Barrier will have the appearance of Witch's Minions rather than the normal ghosts or dolls. When they are defeated, they will drop a strange seed that will allow the group to exit the barrier and return to reality. While in the trap, the Heroes may find their magical abilities slightly boosted, but a pervasive feeling of despair will grow the longer the group stays within this nebula. The Display Cases The area where the dolls are normally displayed, the glass cases now stand empty. The doors of several of the cases are unlocked and ajar. If a Trap is triggered here, a Dream Width-like nebula will create a large tank that will quickly fill with a greenish-white fluid. The Heroes may find themselves confused, experiencing disjointed fragments of memory. Luckily, if someone becomes too lost to continue, other party memories can help explore the memories and find their way. Successfully navigating a memory fragment will allow the group to exit the trap and return to reality. While in this trap, the Heroes may find their physical abilities slightly enhanced, but they may hear piecing high pitched sounds and feel a growing sense of detachment from the other party members. The Preservation Room The workshop where the dolls are repaired and kept in pristine condition is partially open to the public. During the museum's peak times, preservationists would demonstrate their techniques and talk about the pros and cons of restoration vs pure preservation. If a Trap is triggered here, a Dream-Width-like nebula will appear, filling the room with a poisonous miasma. The poison is somehow able to affect even Gourmands, though the effect is lessened due to their tolerance. While in this trap, the Heroes may find their bardic abilities slightly enhanced, but will also be physically weakening because of the Miasma's poisonous effect. The group can try to find a way to banish the miasma, or they can escape the poisoned rooms and move on to the next section. The poison effect will fade once they return to an uncontaminated area. The Multi-Media Room This small theatre shows a short, informational video about the Museum on loop. The 'highlight' of the video is a clip reenacting the puppetmaster show tour's tale of the "Heroes of Light". Many a child has been forced to write a report about this video. If a Trap is triggered here, a Dream Width-like nebula will create a pocket of time-space that exists in the Dark Hour. Any time-telling devices will proclaim this the 25th hour in a day, and the world will be cast in a greenish glow. Looking out of the windows will reveal that where people used to be, there are now coffins. Random encounters will be with Shadow Monsters rather than creatures of Vaikuntha. While in the Dark Hour, the Heroes may notice that their magic defense stat is increased. However, the longer they linger in the Dark Hour, the more apathetic they grow. The trap will end after an hour, or when the group exits the section. The Children's Fun Corner This section of the museum is where the Curator offers arts and crafts projects that young visitors can create to take home with them. Cutting out paper dolls, painting faces on little wooden dolls, stitching together cloth dolls...if it is a doll-related project, it has probably been offered here at one time or another. If a Trap is triggered here, a Dream Width-like nebula will transform the group into dolls. While in this state, the room will be giant by comparison, and fighting ghost enemies and navigating obstacles will become more difficult. While in this doll-state, the party will be able to understand the language of dolls they encounter. If a doll-encounter is rolled while this trap is in effect, please contact a mod to receive a clue. The trap effect will be undone when the group exits the Children's Fun Corner. The Gift Shop The life blood of any privately-run tourist attraction, the gift shop offers a variety of knick-knacks and doll-related memorabilia. There are no trickstraps in the Gift Shop (other than a steep markup on prices to help pay the rent), and if a Trap is rolled, the group will receive a Treat instead. The Employee's Only Section The back rooms of the Museum where only the staff members are supposed to go. There's a dusty break room, an office where the Curator works, an emergency exit, and storage for repair supplies and dolls that have been pulled from rotation. It's all pretty shabby back here, but the Curator was not expecting anyone but her to see it. If a Trap is triggered here, ?????? (well, you'll find out.)