aeternas | Event #2

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Event #2

Leading to a Crossroads

INTRODUCTION

Two days have passed since the bone dragon was defeated. An entire part of downtown is now closed off completely while scientists examine the remains and take samples from the ooze that had been used to terrorize the citizens of Mondstadt. The harpastum stadium lies in ruins, with the skeleton corpse unmoving while it’s inspected, and many people have lost their homes due to the rampage of the monster. For now, hilichurl and mitachurl sightings have ceased, and none seem to be making their way towards the city. Clean up begins, and though the people have been shaken by this turn of events, the city still stands strong and begins their recovery.

However, there is a restless unease that’s felt all around. No one understands what prompted this attack, where the dragon came from, or how it was defeated. Who defeated it? There’s no way of knowing unless someone claims to have been the one- and there’s no shortage of nutjobs who said they did it without any way of proving it. So the mystery seems unsolved for the moment.

However, a lot of people point to one person- a streamer. He’s the talk of the town, and if you didn’t know his name before, you do now. The biggest tabloid on the market, The Teyvat Enquirer, has a huge headline in its paper the very next day:

BENNY’S ADVENTURE TIME: HOW AN ONLINE DAREDEVIL BECAME THE SAVIOR OF MONDSTADT

It’s in every store. To small shops to grocery stores and bookstores, Bennett’s face is plastered all over with a deep dive, detailed history of what’s publicly available online to know about Bennett. And it’s selling like hotcakes. They’re claiming he took down the dragon all by himself, with the strange fire powers he had on display in his streams. Plus, it’s all over the internet too, with his VODs being clipped and reposted everywhere. There isn’t a person in all of Teyvat who doesn’t know who Bennett is.

The normal news is reporting on Bennett as well, but there’s also the search for a mysterious man who’s only identifier is the mop of ginger hair on his head. He hasn’t been seen since the incident, and people claim he was the one fighting the dragon alongside someone else who has also gone unidentified. There’s also news about all the missing harpastum players and other residents of Mondstadt that had gone missing during Ludi Harpastum- none have been found, but for the first time, they were able to be followed. The discovery of the domain has been located, but it will not let anyone go in. Scenes from Dawn Winery include the Knights roping the area off, and heavy security now sit in front of it, not allowing anyone to pass.

FARMER'S MARKET.

Due to classes closing for the next few weeks as Mondstadt recovers from the attack, the students of the university have decided to do charity drives to help those who had the unfortunate happening of losing their home, getting injured to help with medical bills, or, god forbid, lose loved ones. Throughout the next few weeks, a collegiate farmer’s market opens up on the university campus, and it has a variety of stalls to visit:

Bake Sale: Something a lot of students can get in on is showing off their baking and making various kinds of baked goods! Some students are great at it, some are not! Feel free to patronize them or perhaps get baking yourself!

Organic Stalls and Snack Stalls: Not just students have come to participate, as a lot of Mondstadt’s local farmers brought all sorts of different vegetables to sell to help raise money to rebuild. And, you can't go without all sorts of snacks, from cookies to popcorn to small food trucks that feature food from any other country except Mondstadt. Dig in!

Handmade Goods: It’s not a farmer’s market without all sorts of neat clothing, pottery, and other knick knacks. Feel free to discover any kind of stall selling cool things for your house!

Cook Off: For those who can, there is a cook off to make meals for those who’ve lost their homes. The competition is fierce, and all food made will be delivered by aid groups to those in need. Face off against your friends and neighbors, and see who can make the best dish!

Couple’s Painting: The art department of the university has donated a ton of supplies to the market, where two people can paint each other on a canvas for a fee. All proceeds go to charity, and the two people will end up with their stunning (or not so stunning) portraits of each other. Can you just sit still? We’re trying to do a Picasso over here!

The Alchemy Shop is also taking this opportunity to provide some classes to help people with the rebuild. They’re free during this time, so take advantage of what their crazy, local alchemist has offered. He’s going to talk and talk and talk with the passion of forty poli-sci professors who care way too much about NGO’s except it’s alchemy and a lot more useful. Be careful not to get stopped by him after class, you may not survive.

Potion Making Classes: With a focus on extending one’s stamina and helping people get a good night’s sleep, these classes will teach characters on how to make stamina and sleep potions. Be careful when creating them, and make sure you measure their potency to the correct amounts. 🙂 Characters will learn that these are not hard potions to make and the materials are easily found.

🔋 Stamina potions need one part iron ore, two parts matsukake, and one part fowl, mixed with water.

💤 Sleep potions need two parts dandelion seeds, one part raw meat, one part cecelia, mixed with water.

Transmutation 101: Make that old bike you weren’t using into wood instead! This is a class to help people create useful materials for everyday use, especially now when building materials are in high demand. But remember, students- to obtain, something of equal value must be lost. No cheating…

Local businesses have also opened their doors, at least the ones left standing. Volunteers are welcome at any business to get them back up on their feet. There’s also an auction happening at the Cat’s Tail, which is definitely going to make a certain employee of theirs so, so happy. Bid against your neighbors, friends, enemies, so you can win that piece of weird antique furniture for your house or office and help the Mondstadt relief fund!

TO HIDE IN SHADOWS.

During this time, the Knights are actively on the lookout for people who have marks like the one Bennett displayed in his VODs. Though the public might be convinced that Bennett is their hero, the Knights aren’t buying that he’s the only one, especially since there’s video evidence that more than one person is displaying what looks like elemental powers. It helps that they don’t know exactly what they’re looking for, so they’re mainly on the watch for people actually using the powers first, though they do know there could be a similar mark on people.

They are not hiding this fact. News outlets are putting out that there is a monetary reward for anyone who can give the Knights information on these persons of interest. They currently do not know who they are, but fear mongering among politicians has started to rise up, painting them as dangerous and a threat to society. Decarabia is offering refuge to these people, welcoming them to come and be free of Mondstadt’s oppressive, sinful atmosphere. The Knights are not letting people leave easily, and all flights out of the city are canceled. If your character does leave, it will be incredibly difficult (or your character was just very prepared in case of an emergency.)

If caught, the Knights will try to detain characters who display using their powers or if they can see the constellation mark. If you have your character detained by the Knights, please comment here. Feel free to fight the Knights if you’d like, escape from them, or avoid detection all together. All in all, it’s clearly not safe to stay in Mondstadt for much longer.

MISC

FOR ZHONGLI:

Life will go on as normal for him, except he’s starting to experience all sorts of bad luck. The bad luck can be anything you want, and will affect anyone he’s with too. 🙂 If Zhongli happens to be around Bennett, Ren (Hu Tao), or Venti please let me know ASAP for details. The trio from the Occult House are also available for Zhongli to do things with or be introduced to other characters. They can be NPC'd by anyone for threads if it comes up.

FOR BENNETT:

The Knights come for him, and will try to detain Bennett and bring him to the Knights HQ. Bennett can do a number of things here:

They can try to detain him anywhere you’d like, anytime you’d like, in any situation he may be in, whatever works best. He can absolutely participate in the rebuild of the city, this might even help him deal with the Knights.

Bennett can avoid being detained or he can willingly go with the Knights. If he tries to resist being taken away, there will be an active manhunt for him and he will be escalated to being considered dangerous and a wanted criminal. He can also go into hiding and just not be found at all- which will avoid any escalation and accumulation of stars like he’s a criminal in GTA.

If he goes with them, he will be interrogated about his new powers and then closely monitored. They sound like they're going to prepare for moving him to a science lab, which is not where anyone wants to be. During that time, social media will explode with half the people wanting him free and half the people wanting him locked away for their own safety. There will be protests outside of the Knight’s HQ demanding that Bennett be left alone to live his life like a normal person, and Decarabian diplomats will advocate for him to be taken to Decarabia, claiming he will be safe there and they will ensure Mondstadt’s well being by taking him. The Knights will do an investigation by asking his family questions- if you want to do more with that with his dads and the Knights, that’s a free for all for you to decide ;) Let me know what you ultimately decide to do with Bennett, as it will affect the story!

CLOSING

Exploration is currently not available for characters to go out and see the world. This is the fallout of the conflict with the dragon, and the start of a journey for our characters. There will be a poll among the group in a month or so for where everyone would like to go next within the country of Mondstadt, so be ready for that!

As it stands right now, the group has found these items so far, which no one has currently figured out what they do:

Zhongli: Old rotted lyre, necklace from Natlan.
Bennett: Trinket from the hilichurl domain where the missing people disappeared in.

The dragon itself was ultimately defeated by Ajax (Childe) and Zhongli.

This log is a little bit of a slice of life break after the heavy opening log, but there's some things in it that will help everyone prepare for the adventure ahead.

To Be Continued…

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You don't want me to do that. Go away, and I won't report you for harassment.

[He's just a normal guy. The one in front him is famous.]

[Well, there is the matter of his reputation. But there is also the matter of this guy right here.]

Why do you talk with my voice?

[There's more to this.]

And I am sure I will survive that report of yours.

[Kuni rolls his eyes and just takes the mask off.

He warned you.]

It's my voice, brat, I'm older.

[Oh, this has to be some sort of joke. One of those jokes that's not funny at all.]

.... [For once Kunikuzuchi doesn't know what to say. This guy is older? Older how?] ...Why do you have my face?

[His eye starts to twitch a little as he steps even closer, studying the other thoroughly.]

Stop calling me brat, insect.

It's my face, brat.

[He is not going to stop, but he is going to put a hand out to keep the brat out of his bubble.]

I said you didn't want me to take the mask off.

Heh. Such a bold statement.

[That's not your face, that's his face! And, to be fair, he can't place this at all. As far as he knows, he has always been alone, if he had a twin he would have known. Right?]

Stop thinking for me, worm. What is your name?

Does it matter?

Yes.

[Names matter.]

[He sighs.]

Kunikaki Niwa. Happy? Our names are our own, at least.

Are you my twin brother or something?

[Why did he never meet him? As far as he knows, as far as the books told him, families stayed together. Also possible twin brothers. Or people who wear his face.]

Tch. Do I look happy?

Nope. We're both only children.

[Technically. He's pretty sure any other clones could not be counted as "brothers" for this brat, and he sure doesn't consider them family.]

Are you done? Can we both just go back to pretending this isn't a thing?

[Kunikuzushi crosses his arms while frowning deeply.]

You enjoy to be lied to? [He truly has no idea what to make from this guy's words. He sounds as if he has always known everything about this.] Pathetic. [This comes from the mouth of a guy whose whole life has been a lie, by the way.]

Why are you here?

[No, he isn't done. Not in the slightest.]

[Oh that makes him laugh.]

I've never been lied to in my life, brat. Trust me.

[So it's just you.]

Closer to Sumeru for college.

[Kunikuzushi snorts a very joyless snort in return.]

Hmn. Mondstadt is, indeed, very close to Sumeru.

[That still doesn't answer the question why there is this guy looking like him.]

You are from Inazuma, not? I am. You must be too.

That's where I was born and where my adoptive parents are, sure.

[He may call them "mom and dad" but some part of him still struggles with just calling them his parents, even now.]

Seriously, are you done with this?

[Kunikuzushi realizes that this guy is definitely never going to tell him anything.]

Go back to Sumeru.

[He scowls.]

Otherwise I'll grind your face into the dirt.

I've never been to Sumeru, brat, and I was here first, so maybe you should go back to whatever hole you crawled out of. I'd love to see you try and hurt me, though. There goes your Harpstrum contract if you do~

[That is an annoying response and his eyes narrow briefly.]

Is that an invitation? [He pauses.] Why don't you face me on the field? My manager would love to see such a spectacle.

[Harpastrum is the only thing he's good at to begin with, and the only thing that makes him feel somewhat useful.]

[Kuni scoffs.]

Because I, unlike you, don't need the cries of hundreds of fake fans just to feel like I'm important. I know my worth. [It's probably not much unless you're the Doctor, but all the same.] I'm not the one chasing strangers hoping for answers to questions I don't wanna ask, am I? Now go.

[Oof, that is a bit of a low blow.]

Tch. Fuck you.

[After saying that he moves quickly to kick his 'twin' in the shins.]

Next time you call me a brat, it will be your face. And when I am done I can guarantee you, we won't have the same face anymore.

Fuck--

[Kuni goes down, clutching his shin and checking for blood before glaring at the asshole brat who thinks he's so much better. There's a strange sensation on the back of his neck, but he's ignoring that for now.]

Piss off before I make you, you worthless wannabe--

[He stumbles to his feet, reaching for the brat to try and grab him...and instead accidentally sending out a blast of air. It may not be strong enough to knock the brat over, but all the same it has Kuni staring in mild horror at his hands.]

Aw, hell no.

[Kunikuzushi manages to avoid the other's hand grabbing at him but he couldn't anticipate the blast of air at all. Now it doesn't send him flying backwards, it does make him stagger briefly.]

Tsk. Now don't do stupid things, worm. You have two shins, you know.

Tch.

[Kunikaki stumbles to his feet, wincing.]

Go back to the hell you crawled out of, brat. I have better things to waste my time on.

[Now that's just stupid. Consider him not impressed.]

Yet here you are, not?

[He shrugs.]

Sad to see that someone wearing my face is such a coward.

[Kunikuzushi knows he isn't going to get any answer from this guy here. He knows he need to ask those questions to the people who he grew up with. And maybe even then, no answer will be given.]

Because you chased me, dumbass. God, why the hell was it this idiot...

[He doesn't remember much about the labs, not in detail, not outside of nightmares and flashbacks, but he could have sworn they all got an education. Then again, maybe not in common sense.]

And for the last time, I'm older, it's my face, down to that stupid beauty mark.

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