[ToxicShadow]

Blayze would never, ever, miss out on the Golden Thread Festival.

While he wasn't sure if it was counted up there with the many winter holiday celebrations, it was certainly one of his favorite celebrations. So it was no surprise at all that he had came to attend the festival this time, too. Although, it turned out that this was his first time attending the festival entirely alone. But, alone or not, he was determined to enjoy himself.

Nothing was going to stop him.

Thread: Golden Thread for a Golden Boy

[crow]

"Fes-ti-val! Fes-ti-val! Festival! Woohoo!"

Suvi was certainly in high spirits. Sivain, watching her, wondered where she could possibly get all that energy from. She ate less than he did, though he supposed she slept more. His own childhood had been such a long time ago that he genuinely couldn't remember whether he had been the same way.

"Be careful not to wander off," said Sivain. Enthusiasm was good, but it would be a problem if she got lost.

Suvi stuck her tongue out at him. "That's your job, Sivvy. You're the serious one. But come on, let's have fun! You need to have fun too, after all that fighting, right?"

Celebration
Participants: crow

[zapdragon555]

Paved With Bad Intentions
Participants: zapdragon555

Zenigata couldn't imagine a nicer place to be called into work. The festival was something he'd always wanted to go to, but he'd never been in the area at the right time. Now was different. While he found it a little odd that his team was contacted to help keep order while the Lambastian Science Division did their work, he was nothing if not good at following orders. And maybe he could get some of that delicious festival food and watch the parade while he was at it. Surely no one would cause trouble at the Golden Thread Festival, right?

It was his hope and intention that this little job, such that it was, would go perfectly without a hitch. With his recent track record of losing track of criminals (many of them named Lupin, and many of them being far too slippery to pin down), a job well done would reflect well on he and his team. The sound of the intercom startled him, but he was quick to relax upon realizing it was just the Division making an announcement. Time for him to start his watch, then.

[Redd]

Week Two
Time Frame: 12:01am Monday 1st June - 11:59pm Sunday 7th May
NEW RULE: You only need 5 posts for this one, however each post must meet a 100 word minimum. Also no more sign ups! From here on out, there's no 'turn in at the end of the week' this time, I'll just check the post dates in your threads at the end!

Join the Contest

You put all that nonsense behind you and step through the tent, squinting into the dark as your eyes adjust from harsh sunlight to dim incandescent bulbs. Before you is a large spacious area, with people scurrying to and fro, arms full of gold, black or white set props and in the center of the room were two men, one in a black and gold pinstripe suit, complete with a neat little bow-tie and the other was a man with curly black hair, striking orange eyes and a branded tee with cut-off denim shorts.

"Oh. Oh dear." The man who was clearly the host, muttered to himself as he saw you. "I do sincerely apologize but we just gave away our last participant slot..." he trailed off, guilt tinging his tone and his eyes darted to the other scruffy man.

"Hmm, oh you wanted to participate as well?" The second man turned his gaze to you, a pleasant smile offsetting what was otherwise a piercing gaze. "I have an idea! Er, if you would allow it sir. I am not really accustomed to the rules here. But perhaps we could perform together? What say you stranger?" The man turned to you, tilting his head slightly as the question was presented.

The host shrugged. "I see no reason why not. But it's your choice." he replied, also shooting you a questioning glance. "If that is not something you're open to, I am sorry, but you must return back to the crowd to watch the show."

He'd turned away to consult a clipboard but the participant was already talking again. "It it a quaint little tradition, is it not? I came to perform as the... uh 'dragon'. The big gold one! Though I hardly doubt the people here would take too badly to two dragons if you were already going to dress up as one. I don't really have an act prepared though... sorta was just going to stomp around a bit ehe.. " he chuckled sheepishly. "I can dance a bit though. Singing on the other hand... aha, not really my thing. But ah, where are my manners, my name is Au-...Auberon." He sort of stumbled over that part, though maybe that could be blamed on nerves. He certainly looked a bit on the jumpy side.

Prompt:
Respond to Auberon and roleplay the outcome of these choices:

- Team up with Auberon and work out your outfit and performance. There's props, paint and string available to loan.
You have free reign to roleplay Auberon! He's a cheery guy, a bit on the nervous side and will not offer much beyond the fact that he's fascinated by Aldrect history and he's always wanted to visit the festival.

- Refuse to team up and return to the crowd and watch the show. You have time to visit locations such as the museum, food stalls. You can also choose to roleplay several of the starting acts of the contest.

Investigate Commotion



As you tried to get a closer look at what all the commotion was about your arm was grabbed and words called out to you. "Over here." One woman said to you.

"Hehe-Hey! If you're so interested in poking your nose around, we uh, could use some help!" Another one added.

Looking at the person before you, you weren't entirely sure they were actually a scientist. They had the lab coat, sure, but didn't scientists usually wear like, scrubs or something under their coats? Certainly not a tank top and cargo pants. Even as they spoke to you the lab coat had started sliding off their shoulders ever so slowly. Before you could ask if they were legitimately part of the Lambastian Science Division they pulled the lab coat back up and started talking again.

Her partner, on the other hand was the very definition of a scientist. Her lab coat was the right size for one, and she was wearing a black shirt and striped blue and gold tie underneath, complimenting honey-blonde hair and startling blue eyes. This woman, may have been vaguely familiar, something about the October emergency broadcasts?

"A colleague of mine told me there would definitely be a Chaos hiding about around here somewhere." Perhaps you'd made a quizzical face or looked like you didn't believe them, but the scientist quickly waved a hand about with a frown, sleeve loosely flapping about. "Yeah, yeah. I know. You people don't like believing in big ol' lizard people, sure! But she's shown me proof, so I'm inclined to believe her. SO. How about you go poking around for some proof for me? Just head over to the crowd and look for people that seem to stand out a lot, ye?"

"Either that, or I'm personally heading backstage to question staff and I wouldn't mind a pair of extra eyes and ears." The other scientist added, giving a casual shrug. "Whatever you choose, we'd both appreciate the assist. This could be a massive discovery if we can verify the existence of the creatures."

"If you don't believe us though you're welcome to get out of the way and just go watch the contest."

Prompt:
Respond to the scientists and roleplay the outcome of these choices:

- Head into the crowd and look for people who appear suspicious.
You can go where you want, however it's advised you make it back to the Golden Parade performance by the end of the ten posts. Crowd participants can be roleplayed and some may offer stories about odd black lizards with black and gold scales.

- Head backstage with Wiks and question staff.
Staff can be roleplayed, most deny seeing a lizard, some will point out a strange man with lizard eyes who signed up to participate.

- Refuse to help and return to the crowd and watch the show. You have time to visit locations such as the museum, food stalls. You can also choose to roleplay several of the starting acts of the contest.

[Redd]

Week Three
Time Frame: 12:01am Monday 8th June - 11:59pm Sunday 14th June
You only need 5 posts for this one, however each post must meet a 100 word minimum.

Outcome: Team up with Auberon

At some point, the man stopped and gestured to get your attention. "I think we're on soon... let me see ... hmm." he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and squinted at the terrible handwriting on it, running a thumb across the creased paper to smooth it out. "12:45... so that means about 10 minutes from now. I've got to get in costume. If you need to get ready or add finishing touches, they have another room there-" He pointed down the hall. "And they keep stuff to get dressed in or add to your costume. Or... so I've been told."

With that, he gave you an awkward little wave and disappeared into his room.

After some time, you hear a bit of a rustling and a large, black snout nosed it's way through the door. A draconic head followed, blinking it's six eyes as it quizzically tilted to look around. "Ah! There you are! What do you think, pretty convincing, huh?" Auberon's voice came from... well, you were supposed to believe it was a costume. Sharp claws dragged across the tarp as he stepped out of the room and proudly posed for you to look at. A large-set, lizard like beast stood before you, squatting on thick hind legs with a thick tail neatly coiled around his body. Staring down at you was three sets of orange-yellow eyes on each side of his head and an ornery set of curved horns. He was pitch black and covered in a rough, craggy skin. Golden paint had been applied, or well... tried to. Fresh paint, still wet to touch was dribbling down the sides of his body and horns, where he'd attempted to apply it, though he barely seemed phased by the whole thing.

It was just a costume, right? This wasn't just a huge monster?

"C'mon, we need to hurry. We're on next." Auberon happily exclaimed, his mouth not moving during the exchange. He didn't give you any time to react, before scampering off towards the stage.


Outcome: Head backstage with Wiks

What did you find? A whole lot of nothing. Well, that and a room with a big dinosaur-like footprint and gold paint splattered from the ceiling to the floor.

"Hey, can we talk a minute. Before we start looking outside?" Sarah called out, not taking her eyes off the indentation in the tarp. Something heavy enough to leave a footprint like that was definitely draining the color from her face. "I don't think Zae knew exactly what we were going to be up against, but my people have a bit more information on the Chaos and... I have to apologize. I've put you in a dangerous situation."

She sighed and rubbed her temples, before gesturing to the footprint. "This belongs to a creature called Aurudantte. A very dangerous creature. I'm unfortunately not at liberty to explain exactly but he and his kind terrorize people, take lives and if he's here, then trust me when I say that it's bad news." she explained, losing all of that cheery disposition from earlier. "This is absolutely a last resort but if you see him and have any means to catch him or stop him-" Here, she placed a small dart and a vial in your hand. Suddenly 'stop him' had much more lethal implications. "Don't give me that look. It'll paralyze him, but it will wear off rather quickly."

She shrugged and made to walk towards the stage, waving for you to follow. "Otherwise, your original directive from Zae was to obtain a sample, to prove the existence of the Chaos. A scale, some blood, put it in the vial. My recommendation would be force, since that's usually all they understand, but they're capable of speech and can be reasoned with. Just, please be careful."

The Main Event

At the sound of his name, the bulky Chaos dipped his head and proudly trotted on stage, garnering gasps of awe and applause as he moved, the wet paint glittering in the sun. If you'd arranged a performance with him, then he fell into line with whatever routine you'd come up with. Otherwise, he opened his maw to let out a rippling roar and pranced around a bit to whatever pop song they'd put on.

If you were performing with the Chaos you heard Auberon's voice again, in your head. "You must forgive me new friend, things are about to get a bit... chaotic." The voice was resigned and worried. "This is, probably as you have likely guessed, isn't a costume. I am what they call, a Chaos. Aurudantte is my true name. My brothers sent me here to investigate this little festival of yours and in a moment of weakness, I thought I should participate in your rituals that honor Gendragutte, the Golden Dragon. He's one of the few Chaos that appears in human culture. Did you know that? But, ah I am rambling. In a minute, my pursuers - I believe you call them Seraph - are about to break cover, call me a demon and attempt to hunt me down. The other humans in the audience will rally to their cause."

He stopped performing, breaking his facade and turning to you. "So. Human. What will you do?" This time Aurudantte spoke aloud, words low and rumbling. The music stopped and the crowd could be heard again. There was a small commotion starting to pick up towards the back of the crowd. "Will you help me escape the city? Or join your other humans?"

If you had offered to help Wiks and Zae, then it suddenly clicks that this wasn't a costume, it moved too fluidly, the maw looked too real and the creature's sides shuddered as it breathed. This was the Chaos you'd been sent to find proof of. Earlier, Zae had given you a vial and asked for you to get a sample from the creature, a scale, some blood, a piece of horn. Anything worked, really. She'd also told you that the creature may be capable of speech. She had also said that a really big lizard would draw all sorts of unwanted attention and the commotion starting to rise at the back of the crowd confirmed that. So really, you concluded that you really only had one option: catch up to the Chaos and convince him to give you a sample in exchange for help getting out of the city.

If you'd previously declined performing with the strange scruffy man, you recognized the name as he entered. Though he was really unrecognizable under all those scales and horns now. As the commotion began to pick up, you noticed two things; the lizard looked like it was about to bolt and that there was a group of well-armed people at the back of the crowd, starting to redirect the crowd away from the stage and slowly advancing on the lizard.

One called out, "Citizens, this is a highly dangerous animal, please vacate the area immediately. Any citizens with relevant experience, your assistance is required in catching and subduing this lizard."

Well, you heard the man.  

Prompts
Aurudantte/Auberon, Seraph Guards and almost anything else you'd like can be roleplayed. It's up to you how this scenario plays out.

If you performed with Aurudantte
- Help the Chaos escape Seraphim pursuers
- Refuse to help Auru escape Seraphim pursuers and evacuate with rest of crowd

If you went backstage with Wiks
- Hunt the escaped Chaos
- Complete the original task and get a sample for Zae

If you offered to help Zae
- Complete the original task and get a sample for Zae

Otherwise
- Evacuate
- Offer to help the guards chase the lizard

[Redd]

Well, I hope you enjoyed this event ;o; It was a bit of a new thing I wanted to try and while I tried to make each 'path' pretty distinct, it's my first time running something like this and if it's enjoyed, then I want to do more of these, and hopefully the other mods do too!

That being said, I am super open to feedback. Especially regarding difficulty, if the scenarios are too restrictive, the post/word count etc etc. I did trial a few things and I wanted to know how these in particular felt.

But now there's only one last thing to do. Prizes!

For everyone who participated and made at least one week's worth of posts, whatever that may have been:



A choice between the Gilded Kodile and the Gilded Tundragoon

If you completed all three weeks of the event, you will also recieve:


1 x Weaver Strain

You must post here to claim. If prizes are not claimed by June 30th, 11:59pm, they will be sent into the void.

[GrayGriffin]

Hmm...I was kind of disappointed that for the last part, choosing to help Zae meant you only got one "choice" of how to proceed. Other than that, the prompts were pretty fun and definitely helpful.

Edit: Also I dunno how easy it'd be, but I'd like it if future events had different prize options depending on which choices you picked? Maybe have them just be item rewards instead of having a complete new pet for each route.

I'll choose the Tundragoon.

[zapdragon555]

I personally enjoyed it a lot! My only tiny feedback is maybe post the names of the characters underneath their images because I am dumb and bad at comprehending who is who KJHDFGKJ. Overall a super fun way to do events like this!

Claiming Kodile <3

[Adelie]

as someone who has no muse for anything, i loved loved loved having scenarios / prompts! the last one might've been a bit restrictive, but i uh, kind of made things up that totally conflicted with the 'canon' of the scenario, lol. as long as that's okay, though, i'm perfectly happy with these scenarios.

also liked the post/word count requirements as someone who likes to write long-ass posts.

claiming a cute little kodile for myself.

[Sarah]

I had a wonderful time. I like the guided events/events with more strict settings because they tend to be easier for me to write for .

I'll claim the Tundragoon <3

[Silver]

I felt pretty weird about roleplaying someone else's characters (aka the NPCs in this event) so I mostly only mentioned them sometimes, but otherwise I had a great time and wrote even more than I had to because I was so invested. :3

Claiming Kodile please!

[Indigo]

I really liked this! It was very helpful for my decision paralysis. I did find the layouts of some of the later prompts confusing wrt which thing was the specific choice we were making but that may just be a me thing.

I will claim a Kodile (and Weaver Strain, idk if we have to say that part so I'm covering my bases)!

[SpringsSong]

Like a couple of others, I felt kinda weird RPing the NPCs - heck, it's taken me years of writing and playing the game that the characters I used in this event came from to feel comfortable even attempting writing them correctly - but I enjoyed the event!

Claiming a Tundragoon.

[Celtic]

Claiming 1x Gilded Kodile.

Personally, I thought it was really fun! I liked the prompts, I felt like I had a good enough idea to take the reins and there was enough wiggle room for me to run with the scenarios. I felt like I always had more than enough to write about.

A couple of additions I would have enjoyed:

-Letting us know where the next scenario was going to begin. Like for the second one -- you'll role-play right up to when Auberon tells you it's your turn to go on stage. Just like, what is the time we need to fill.

-What are the abilities of these NPCs? My original idea for the last bit was to incorporate some fighting or to have Aurudantte do some neat "chaos" things but I have no idea what they are capable of doing. Like I don't know if they have magic or they're just dope swordsmen/ angels. So I'd like just a little more background.

-Also it'd be fun to do these in small groups? Like have your scenario affect someone else's scenario? Like say I opted to perform with Auberon, and someone else opted to do the science-y bit. It would have been cool at the end to come together. Like my characters are trying to get Auru out of the city, someone else's characters are trying to get a sample etc. It'd be a fun community building aspect to an event. Bring in some user-user interaction without having to put too much more on your own plate. We might need longer time frames for that 'joint' thread, but I think it'd be neat.

[Kylo]

Claiming a kodile!

I really enjoyed everything! I kinda stayed away from rping the npcs as I too suck at rping other's characters, but it was fun!