songerein_ooc | { dream notes: #25

DREAM NOTES #25: SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

WHOOO IT'S OUR SECOND YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! Thanks to everyone who has come and gone, and especially to those who have stuck around for so long! We have a lot of cool things planned for the next year, mostly delving into exploring the world and trying new things with the dream and nightmare themes. And we're going to kick that off with the upcoming event ho ho ho ho. The Bi-Annual State of the Game will be posted later in the week so that we're not slamming everyone with everything at once. And just in case anyone is curious, it'll mostly be discussing a bit more about our future plans and getting an idea of what to expect in the next few months! Our next SotG will be in February 2024.

CALENDAR

The Official Calendar has been updated. Here is our current schedule for the month:

9/01: Apps open

9/03: Final apps due, begin processing apps

9/05: Player Intro, CR Meme, Event Part 1*

9/10: Event Part 2*

9/28-30: Activity Check

10/01: New Mod Notes, Plot With Me Meme

10/05: EMP/ATP

10/??: Event/TDM

10/25: Reserves Open

10/29-31: Activity Check

DREAM TREND: This month's dream trends may involve any of the following themes: need to escape, stuck in a dangerous situation, desperation

WEATHER: It's still a hot summer with a few summer storms rolling through, with more coming and going towards the end of the month. The smaller showers will be a welcome, however, as they will be cooler and more pleasant to stand in.

OTHER NOTES: N/A

Both the Open Log and the Special Event have asterisks by them as we wanted to make a quick heads up here that the two logs will be connected to each other. More information will be in their respective sections, but we're heading right into the aftermath of the thefts from last month.

AC RESULTS

Congratulations to everyone who commented on our Activity Check! The following characters were removed from the game:

Hayato Gokudera |

bakudan_bambino
Zenkichi |

lemiserable
Shinjiro Aragaki |

mortal_son
Zuko |

rediscovering
Noctis Lucis Caelum |

sleepsalot
Anya Forger |

smolpsychic
Baldr |

unbrokenoaths

If anyone was swept because they missed AC, you can reapply in the next cycle. Just fair warning, we will notice if this happens more than once and we may not allow immediate reapplication the next time.

This puts our player population to 70/90, which means our new player reserve/apps slots are at a maximum 20.

POLL: LAYOUT

Hello, hello! We'd like to thank everyone who left us feedback for the event layout last month! We had a lot of positive feedback, but we had some legitimate concerns as well. So, we'd like for everyone to test out a third option that we thought of (and even had some input from a professional). Obviously, we can't please everyone and some will like one version more than another, but we'd still like to find a workable compromise. This time, we'll also be holding a poll to make it more clear where people stand. Finally, as you can see we redid the mod notes a bit to see if this helps people getting through our notes.

We have both event layout versions here and I'll talk a little more about each one.

Sample A is the windowed version, and like we mentioned in the last game notes, the main purpose is to limit how much is visible on the screen. This was our alternative to using detail cuts as we did get a lot of pushback for needing to click a lot to expand the prompts, primarily from those who prefer to see the content all at once.
Sample B does feature detail cuts...but used in "reverse" to usual. We set the cuts to be open by default, both for section headers AND for prompts with subprompts, so players now have the option to click on them to close it. We had some feedback that the windowed format was too limiting for those who prefer to see everything all at once, so this is the solution we came up with. It's the original post layout, but now players who need things to be "minimized" for easier digestion can do so. This also addresses the previous issue of players who prefer not to click to reveal information. In addition, there is a top and bottom navigation to allow you to jump to different sections (and comments) more easily.

And now we discuss the new test format for the mod notes. We did have some feedback recommending we do windowed for the mod notes, but we're going to try just adding the sticky side navigation that you see floating around next to the text. It's using the current Game Info format, which works well for the notes due to all the sections we have. With this you can easily jump around between sections no matter where on the page you are.

If we did reformat the mod notes to a windowed style, the side navigation would look similar to the current one. Just, you know, attached to the layout instead of free floating.

All layouts are mobile compatible.

NOW with that out of the way, here is the poll! Because we know everyone has different preferences, we're asking a series of different questions that first target your own personal preference, and then what your objective preference for the game as a whole would be. For the last question, we provide a wider range for those who may feel a bit more ambivalent or have no strong feelings.

Poll #29879 Preferred Layout Style?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 18

SELECT ALL EVENT LAYOUTS YOU'RE OKAY WITH

ORIGINAL
14 (77.8%)

SAMPLE A (WINDOWED)
10 (55.6%)

SAMPLE B (OPEN CUTS)
14 (77.8%)

CHOOSE JUST ONE AS YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCE

ORIGINAL
4 (22.2%)

SAMPLE A
3 (16.7%)

SAMPLE B
11 (61.1%)

CHOOSE JUST ONE YOU THINK WOULD WORK BEST FOR THE GAME AS A WHOLE

ORIGINAL
2 (11.1%)

LEANING TOWARDS SAMPLE A
3 (16.7%)

SAMPLE A
2 (11.1%)

LEANING TOWARDS SAMPLE B
4 (22.2%)

SAMPLE B
7 (38.9%)

FOR THE MOD NOTES LAYOUT, SELECT ALL MOD LAYOUTS YOU'D BE OKAY WITH

ORIGINAL
14 (77.8%)

WINDOWED
7 (38.9%)

STICKY NAV
15 (83.3%)

CHOOSE JUST ONE MOD NOTES LAYOUT AS YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCE

ORIGINAL
3 (16.7%)

WINDOWED
2 (11.1%)

STICKY NAV
13 (72.2%)

CHOOSE JUST ONE YOU THINK WOULD WORK BEST FOR THE GAME AS A WHOLE

ORIGINAL
2 (11.1%)

LEANING TOWARDS WINDOWED
3 (16.7%)

WINDOWED
0 (0.0%)

LEANING TOWARDS STICKY NAV
5 (27.8%)

STICKY NAV
8 (44.4%)

Thanks everyone! Other feedback is greatly appreciated.

WORLD UPDATES

Be it new NPCs, creatures, places, or some other discovery or creation, the world of Songerein continues to grow! For official lists and information, refer to the World Directory and Bestiary. So here are a few things as a result of the Dream Board and other submissions:

Places:

The Wild Harvest serves various western and eastern style earth-based street food dishes. A special menu is rotated every month.

French Toast: Bread that is soaked in beaten eggs, mixed with milk or cream, then pan fried. Can be sliced into sticks or served whole with customer's choice: home-made syrup, rainbow honey, and/or sliced fruit.

Watermelon Shiso Salad: A refreshing, delicious recipe for Asian-style watermelon salad with shiso leaves, cucumber, and scallions, topped with a sesame-lime dressing. Vegan, gluten-free, and full of flavor!

Tofu Tacos: By Reverein's own Leo Valdez, a winner of July's contest. A delectable vegetarian twist on a classic! With just the right amount of spice, this soft flour tortilla is packed with flavorful tofu, lettuce, a mix of Monterey jack, cheddar, asadero, and queso quesadilla cheeses, pico di gallo, as well as a dollop of guacamole and sour cream.

Autumn Dreams: A reddish-brown latte or milk tea with a Hōjicha base that has a nutty, sweet flavour, served in a fall-themed cup. It is always the perfect temperature, and drinking it will leave one with an immense feeling of satisfaction akin to curling up on a rainy day with a really good book.

Temperatures are still mild, but the Harvest takes its time preparing for the changing of seasons. Origami maple leaves in varying shades from red to orange to yellow can be seen along the walls of the main dining area as the month progresses, matching all of the decorative flowers and plants that have been swapped in. The carefully-folded maple leaves are also given as a token of each customer's visit, freely available at each seat.

Meanwhile, in the garden, the vegetables and fruit are thriving, growing tall with no signs of stopping. The grapes in particular have subtly taken on some cute and interesting shapes from the positive energy of the visitors lately. They match well with yellow, glowing moon-shaped berries, which look more like stars as of late. Quite atmospheric...!

PRELUDE TO DISASTER

As mentioned in the Calendar section, we have two event logs that will run together in relation to this month's event. Normally we don't smash everything in the beginning, but due to IC timing of everything, this was the only way. However, the IC dates of everything are contained to a few days at the beginning of the month. We have a poll in the next section to determine the general direction of the ending so that players can still plot and figure out what their character is doing for the rest of the month. Rest of the aftermath will be revealed in October's notes.

Event "Bonuses". Thanks to everyone's submissions, we're incorporating the results into the event! They'll be mentioned in their appropriate section. For some quick numbers, here's what we got:
Stolen goods: 25
Items retrieved: 14
Investigation: 4
Bubblegum fountain: 7
Library: 2
Dreamscape - Retrieval: 1
Dreamscape - Tikbalang: 3

Thievery Ahoof Aftermath. For a quick summary, here is the state of things after last month's event. It's related to what's to come, so give it a glance over!

The fountain is fixed! Well, mostly. There were strange devices in there that absorbed dreamotion energy from the items that were tossed in, and there were sightings of the hooded figures retrieving them every night. Another device was fueled by nightmare energy to turn the fountain to bubblegum. All devices have been taken to the Observatory for study.
Some of the thieves were captured and while stubborn, it was learned that they were deliberately targeting items that had a high amount of dreamotion energy. They were also determined to come from the Wastelands.
The dreamscape had ties with the stories stolen from the Tree of Stories, and it was determined that it was a manufactured dreamscape to aid the Tikbalangs that were stealing the dreams. It was also determined that certain books had pages torn from them. These books were usually from the horror genre, dream travel, and portals.
Speaking of the Tree of Stories, it is currently still closed due to the damage it suffered during the thefts.

Now, to dive into the background information about what this giant event is about!

Urgent Message. Earlier, Alastor and Eustace had received a lead from the Observatory and had gone out to chase after the tracking device, and upon finding it and the city, they will send a message through the journals relaying the situation: there is an underground city that is about to have a nightmare energy leak and they need help from the Dreamers. Refugees will be making their way to the Outer Range canyons and will need assistance. This message will be integrated into the first log, and there will be a thread for those who have questions for them.

Secret Underground Desert City: Orkili. This city lays several hundred feet deep beneath the Wasteland's sands, where the nightmare energy is not as toxic and they are out of reach of most of the hostile creatures that inhabit the Wastelands. Despite its location, it is filled with a sizeable population. As one can expect, there are a lot of mole type creatures, but there is a large number of fae, particularly those that live underground, and reptilian type races inhabiting it. it's well-lit—and much more technologically advanced compared to what's available in Reverein. Drawing upon steam based engineering and innovation, Orkili has full running electricity and the ceiling itself mimics the sky outside—from sunrise to sunset and even the moon phases. Everything is powered by a mix of machine and dreamotion, something the city natives will be proud of—however, there is a cost for it all, and that is coming to a head right now.

Purpose of the Thefts. Turns out, the reason things were getting stolen last month was because they were trying to harvest strong dreamotion energy. The items stolen had higher amounts of dreamotion energy that could be safely absorbed by those special devices they used. Taking those small dream fragments posed a slightly higher risk, but also still relatively harmless. They were hoping to harvest enough to stave off their current problem, but it wasn't enough.

Nightmare Meltdown. What makes Orkili truly unique and how it's been able to thrive for as long as it has is that it utilizes nightmare energy along with dreamotion. With so much around them, it's basically an endless supply and they have developed machines that can reduce the natural volatility of nightmare energy so that it's safer to use. However, the key component is using dreamotion to help keep it in balance, and this is where they've been running short of. The "well" they've been using has suddenly dried up and they've been scrambling, their usual backups and checks failing. Much like a nuclear reactor that no longer has its coolant, the nightmare energy has started to leak out, affecting the citizens. It's only a matter of time before it all floods out and turns everyone into some kind of noctaere.

Why the Secret? There are reasons why these people did not seek out help from those in Reverein and resorted to stealing instead, but those reasons will have to wait until after everything is dealt with. Have to leave some material for the follow up—but for now they are accepting the suggestion for help.

HELPING HANDS

Now, for the first part of the event. This section is designed for those who may want to opt out of the second portion, but still want to participate in some way. We also tried to make this section a little less tense. Players who participate in the second part can still participate in this log as well! The IC date of this log is the same as its posting, September 5th.

Incoming Refugees. Those who make it to the eastern area of the Outer Range will find scores of people in dark clothes reminiscent of the steampunk style the thieves from last month were. All ages and sizes were evacuated, especially children and elderly who were evacuated first, many of which need medical care. However, they seem wary to step further into the canyons, preferring to be within the Wasteland sands. While the area around the canyons is not as dense with nightmare energy, there are still threats that lurk around. Protection while they stay will also be necessary.

Potluck. As part of treating the refugees, a giant potluck will be held in the area. However, their diet is a lot more different than what is commonly found in Reverein. While the refugees will have brought their own food and ingredients, it won't be enough for however long they need to be there. Special hunts will need to be made.

Crystaltei Return. As if sensing something amiss, the crystaltei (emotion specific creatures made from the giant crystal still floating above the Observatory) will appear and want to help! Find ways to charge them up and help them create clones of themselves to later send to Orkili.

Nightmare Blobs. Although it's not at dangerous levels yet, the leak from the city is slowly advancing towards Reverein, and some of it has created little nightmare blobs that are not quite noctaere. They are also not that dangerous…on their own. But they do contain some nightmare energy within them, and a group of them can negatively influence someone and create nightmares. At worst the blobs will make people cranky, fearful, and reckless. They can be easily dispersed and destroyed by stomping on them with dreamotion. Only a handful appear every so often so it's a bit random, but they can be found in town and in the Wild lands.

Pink Water. So back when we mentioned the fountain was mostly fixed, this is what we meant. The water is pink and tastes like bubblegum. But thanks to the submissions, it's also brimming with dreamotion and can be used to purify the nightmare blobs and people affected by them. People and blobs will turn pink (temporarily for people, permanently for the blobs), but they will feel much better and very loved. The now pink blobs will go out to absorb the nightmare ones. They will eventually start turning black, but another spray of water and they'll be good to go.

Reverein is Safe. Just a quick note that the town and most of the Wildlands will be safe and unaffected except for the nightmare blobs appearing. So for those who want a complete opt-out, it's doable!

INTO THE WASTELANDS

This is the second portion of the event and is COMPLETELY OPT-IN! If you want to participate but need your character to be literally pushed in, that is possible. The IC timeframe for this log will be on the September 6th, a day after the refugees come in. This is in large part because everyone needs to prepare.

Getting There. A large number of giant sandworms will serve as transportation to Orkili with train-like cars attached to them. It won't always be smooth sailing, and sometimes the main driver may have to step out to help defend. Dreamers might need to take over the driving. For those who need to be forced to particiation, Reverein NPC could have grabbed them and dragged them all the way to the sandworm train.

Evacuation. Upon arrival, evacuation has already begun and will still be underway. The nightmare energy will currently be contained at the epicenter of the meltdown, but is creeping outward. Nightmare energy latching onto the negative emotions to create small snake-like noctaere that will try to capture and corrupt their victims. Help evacuees to the sandworms or even help drive the sandworms again!

Overexposure. While the "Nightmare Reactor" is in an isolated cave away from the city nightmare energy has reached the outer edges. Those who were affected have different ranges of severity, from partial transformation to full noctaere. At least three will have even turned into the tikbalang from the dreamscape. But they can be saved! Those who cannot be treated on the spot need to be taken into quarantine and doused with enough dreamotion energy to turn them back. However, they are short on dreamotion and this is where the Dreamers come in. A Dreamer's dreamotion energy produces more than Orkilins ever could produce so interacting with a device can convert the energy to help the process. Others can even try dreamwalking. Just be careful—Dreamers are not immune and risk being affected by the nightmare energy and turn themselves.

Treasured Items. There will be messages that items of great significance to the Dreamers will be able to help clear the nightmare energy due to the high potency of the dreamotion around it. Those who had their items stolen will find theirs to have an even greater effect.

Supply Runs. There are pockets of crystals that are filled to the brim with dreamotion energy. Only a few walls left can be mined and every bit counts, so even if they have to completely deplete their resources to save their city and the affected people, the miners will work hard to try and get as much to the reactor as possible. But something keeps trying to steal these, so help protect them!

Cooling the Reactor. The reactor is in desperate need of enough dreamotion energy to balance out the nightmare energy in it. Special barriers have been hastily erected to keep most of it in, but it's cracking and won't last. Not only do these barriers need to be reinforced, a "dreamotion bomb" can be filled. Tossing it in and detonating it, can diffuse the nightmare energy crisis. It's a band-aid solution but it buys them more time to figure something out. The more dreamotion fills the bomb, the more time they have.

POLL: ENDING DIRECTION

Since the event is happening at the beginning of the month, we're throwing a poll to see where the playerbase would like the direction of the ending to be. This is just to give a general idea so that players can figure out how their characters and general mood will be after everything and be able to do their own logs for the rest of the month. Thread participation will still be asked for and tallied, and will affect how the ending really is.

For example, even if we choose a "good" ending, that can either mean everything can be easily fixed and restored, huzzah it's party time! OR it could mean the reactor is contained, but more still needs to be done along with the damages that were incurred during the time. The same can be true with "bad" ending. Perhaps the bomb failed and the reactor spilled over, but other methods were used to divert or contain the energy. Or it was just a complete, catastrophic failure and we now have a giant nightmare hotspot with noctaere pouring out— You get the idea.

Regardless of either outcome, at the very least characters will be able to revisit it for whatever reason. Should the city survive or be rebuilt, it will become a permanent fixture of the world. Or it could be lost forever.

And this is just the first step to the storyline we're spinning here, ho ho ho.

Anyway, poll time!

Poll #29880 How should the ending of the event go?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 33

WHICH GENERAL DIRECTION SHOULD THE ENDING GO

GOOD/SUCCESS
22 (66.7%)

BAD/FAILURE
11 (33.3%)

DREAM BOARD

How the Dream Board works:

This is all optional, the quests are just extra content for players and while they can sometimes relate to upcoming or current events, they're just kind of "filler" stuff. Some will be set out in Songerein proper while others may involve dreams.
The Dream Board can be found at the Plaza and quests will automatically appear on it like a bulletin board. Some will also appear in the journals. Anyone can accept them and rewards automatically generated upon completion of the task. It's a dream world, it's full of magic, it just knows.
Quests can be done as many times as a character would do them and rewards will be delivered to the character upon completion.
If you have any questions, comment to the designated subthread.

ID	QUEST	REWARD
901	Airborne Dreams. Good morning! Didn't expect to wake up with your bed floating in midair, did you? Haywire energy means household objects have begun to detach themselves from their worldly tethers and found new homes in the air. Fortunately, furniture can easily be grounded and put back in their places with a healthy dose of appropriate dreamotion. Help your neighbors.	Happy neighbors, an orderly neighborhood, and perhaps a chance to rearrange your room to your liking (and to clean under your bed, you filthy animal).
902	Thinking with Portals. No one is safe! The haywire nightmare energy has nightmare abysses suddenly appearing above and below people, no matter where they are. These black holes act as connected portals and, well, should you start to fall, you'll unfortunately keep falling. Use your dreamotion to propel yourself out, or if nightmare's more your thing, try moving one of the holes to launch yourself to new heights!	You're alive. What more do you want.
903	Hungry Owl-Cats. We're not done with story-eating creatures just yet. These owl-cats have found their way to the people, and like most wandering cats, they want to be fed. And they would like to remind you that they want to be fed very loudly. They'll hoot all day and night around you until you tell it a good story. Once it's full up on stories, it'll leave you alone.	A...dead rat on your doorstep! How sweet.
904	The Baku. We're not done with dream-eating creatures yet, either. The baku is a little more sinister, a little more invisible, born from the haywire nightmare energy. It seeps into your dreams where it will stay, consuming all of the positive and neutral ones until it's full, until there is nothing but nightmare left. Don't let it get to that point, though–it's time you dreamwalk into your own dreams to oust this monster.	A peaceful, dreamless sleep.
905	The Cattlepult. There's a scientist who's set up shop with his hulking metal contraption in the wildlands, near a stony spire that looks like a tower. Should you find him, he'll insist that he's come up with the perfect way to give creatures (like cows) the ability to fly. He just lacks in said creatures (like cows) to conduct his experiments. Collect creatures (like cows) so that he can refine his contraption. Or perhaps...volunteer yourself? Enjoy the view as you sail over and past the spire.	Mysteriously, you'll receive a delectable burger at your doorstep several days later. Huh.

END NOTES

HAPPY SECOND ANNIVERSARY YOU GET ANOTHER NEW CITY BUT IT'S ON THE VERGE OF GETTING FLOODED BY NIGHTMARE ENERGY HELP SAVE IT. Ha ha ha ha.

If you have any questions, be sure to comment to the designated thread here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Any specific Dream Board questions or future requests go here.

So, what do the Orkilins look like? Regular humans? Animal people? Idk why I have this image in my head that they look like mole people

You're not wrong! It's a little hidden in the description, but:

"As one can expect, there are a lot of mole type creatures, but there is a large number of fae, particularly those that live underground, and reptilian type races inhabiting it."

So mostly mole-types but it's a mix with other type of animal people. No humans, but they've seen the fae that have human-like appearances, so they won't be too surprised to see them.

Oh bless, so I read it and then promptly forgot where I read it. I'm so excited for animal people omg yessssss

{ dream notes: #25 - september 1, 2023 }

DREAM BOARD QUESTIONS AND REQUESTS

no subject

no subject

no subject