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LOVE POTION #9
LOVE POTION #9
LOVE IS... not in the air! The reintroduction of Confluences into this world has left it rocked, so the season of love is not quite as lovey-dovey as it usually is. People are stressed and anxious. Valentine's events are being cancelled left, right, and center in fear that a Confluence may catch young lovers unawares.
Unbeknownst to mortals, the God of Love really can't afford his month to be ruined by a few little dimensional catastrophes. This is his month! ... And for whatever reason, he seems to be stranded on the Earthly plane.
Surely he can fix things. Push it along a little. Though Gods don't usually meddle in mortal affairs, this is a personal catastrophe. All it takes is a few drops of love potion on a token of affection, and voila! Instant-connection.
(This event has a blanket warning for dubious consent of the love spell variety. To opt out completely, characters can simply not be in Sunset Falls at the time of the event, which runs through Valentine's Day.)
Unbeknownst to mortals, the God of Love really can't afford his month to be ruined by a few little dimensional catastrophes. This is his month! ... And for whatever reason, he seems to be stranded on the Earthly plane.
Surely he can fix things. Push it along a little. Though Gods don't usually meddle in mortal affairs, this is a personal catastrophe. All it takes is a few drops of love potion on a token of affection, and voila! Instant-connection.
(This event has a blanket warning for dubious consent of the love spell variety. To opt out completely, characters can simply not be in Sunset Falls at the time of the event, which runs through Valentine's Day.)
WHITE HEARTS FESTIVAL
Welcome to Sunset Falls, the most magical place in all of America! Literally. The streets are charged with magical energies, and while it won't be spinning your words into spells, it will give anyone who is magically inclined a comfortable little buzz. Maybe it's the boost you need to get a spell working, or maybe it's just a pep in your step. Confluence-displaced metas who take the Guilds up on their offer to tour the new housing will arrive just in time to witness the an annual tradition: The White Hearts Festival, a festival dedicated to all forms of love - familial, friendship, and romantic.
The whole town is decked out in pinks, golds and reds. Town square has been overtaken by food booths peddling elaborate meals and desserts with various magical effects. (It's probably better not to ask why some of the cookies being handed out are in the shape of anatomical hearts.)
- Eat an emoji cookie and find yourself sprouting heart-eyes, or gaining a flurry of hearts above your head.
- The Bolder Biscuit - by far and above the densest thing you've ever tried to eat - makes you bold. It compels you to march right up to someone and tell them what you think, good or bad.
- And there's also the Firework Delight cake, which makes you shoot off literal fireworks the moment you touch that special someone that makes your life complete... but honestly, they go off when you touch anyone. Sorry if you end up giving off the wrong impression!
In addition, pop-up craft stands sell trinkets that guarantee you'll be together with your people forever and ever. The most popular item on sale this year appears to be the Eternal Bond - which is just an enchanted finger-trap that refuses to let go unless you tell someone a deep dark secret.
There is an altar at the town park where you can make your offering and give prayers to the God of Love in hopes he will smile favorable upon you. Lay your chocolate heart at its base and offer up a prayer to the God so that your life will be full of love and connection.
Truthfully, when it started it wasn't as cutesy as it is now. It became a lot more wholesome when people began to offer only chocolate hearts to the God of Love. Now it's fun for the whole family! ... So long as you don't veer into the woods. Some people still practice the old ways, and there are (what you hope to be) animal hearts nailed to trees. This is Sunset Falls, after all. Weird often goes hand in hand with terror.
LONELY HEARTS
For those of you who don't yet have those special people, lonely hearts still single can collect white rose enamel pins from the festival committee. They're expected to pick someone to give it out to as a declaration of their attraction by the end of the festival. However... there seems to be an issue this year. There's more pins here than there are people in town. Committee members start handing them out to anyone, single or not, and from there that's where things start to get a little weird...
You clip the pin onto your shirt and at once, your life has suddenly become a romcom. Everything is just a little brighter, the sounds a little more musical (sometimes literally), and you're suddenly compelled to reach out and find connection.
And the universe is conspiring to bring it your way! Cliches won't stop happening around you. Suddenly people are determined to give you a makeover so you can catch the eye of an admirer. Your friends are betting on your romantic future. A complex love triangle is springing out of previously platonic friendships.
You're not not limited to one partner, and that partner doesn't need to be romantic. It could be a best friend, or a nemesis that you're compelled to fight over and over again for the joy of it. What matters is the connection and the way the world seems to stop at nothing to give you that perfect three act structure: You Meet, You Lose, You Get.
Reach the end of your romcom's little arc and you'll find yourself freed from the spell... and probably will have some choice words for its caster.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Regardless of how you participate in the festival, everyone is at risk when the town itself falls under a love spell.
This may be unlike anything you've known before. Perhaps it's the first stumbling steps of puppy love. You want to be with this person all the time. Hold their hands and work up the courage for a kiss. Or perhaps this is something fierce and passionate. You want to be kissing them always, pursuing these passions heedless of consequences.
This doesn't need to be a romantic love. It can be strong and familial. Perhaps the sort you've always desired but never had. You could fall into a family unit with others affected by the spell. Compelled to hug each other and say words of encouragement or praise. Perhaps you, while living your own love story, are the best friend in someone else's - offering up the speech that tells them they deserve more than they think they do.
Whatever your flavor of love may be, you're prone to dramatic declarations. Confessions at the drop of a hat. It's go big or go home, and since nobody's going home right now, you might as well go as big as you can. Perhaps you're arranging for Flash Mobs to declare your feelings! Or making plans to move in together despite only having met a few hours ago.
This is all fine and well at first, but it may become clear pretty quickly that characters who try to hold their burning passions are likely to burn themselves! If you're the repressed type and you try to resist the compulsions that the love spell puts on you, you might just burst into flames, and someone will need to put you out. Don't worry — move quick enough, and there won't be any lasting damage, and if there is, the Guilds' healers can help you out.
MEET CUTE-PID
For those paying attention to that sort of thing, one constant of all these wild declarations can be spotted in the background. A tall man with curly blonde hair and an all too charming smile never seems to be far from the romance.
Those who are curious enough to follow will find he retreats to a lavish mansion on the outskirts of town. The mansion has the gaudy and abundant decor of a honeymoon suite on the Las Vegas Strip, with lights attuned to music and a massive twirling heart above the roof of the building. Peer inside and you will see hundreds of tiny viewing windows, each depicting a different romantic story unfolding outside of town. The door to the mansion appears to be locked tight and the windows are magically sealed, but some quick thinking may get you inside.
If anyone wants to engage him, HERE is a top level where we will summarize encounters. The more PCs involved in an encounter, the bigger its outcome will be. We will determine the impact on the god of love on Valentine's Day, so get your comments in by end of day on the 13th! You may also use this top level to ask event-specific questions about the effects on this page! (Please refer general questions about the setting to the FAQ, and refer any player plots to the PLOTTING page.)
no subject
There’s something deeply calming about Mist and realizing that regardless of status or training or anything else, we are all connected to the same energy. Humbling I think, and also connective. Like reading good literature or seeing good art. A sense of connection well beyond the here and now.
Ah someone rational. I was talking to Peter about the absurdity of carrying around a surveillance device and he seems to think that was entirely responsible. Maybe I’m an old man pirate but I don't particularly care for others being able to find or track me. Another perk of my ship — I was in charge of any surveillance. I’m finding myself leaning toward the city for the access to resources but the surveillance is heavier. Certainly more research to do — that was how I ended up here today. I don’t think I’ll be staying in Sunset Falls. [ Speaking of… he has another appointment with the guild today. He cold blow it off but he’s not particularly keen to do so when he’s hoping they’ll give him both funds and access to starting an antique shop. He’s going to have to get moving soon, loathe as he is to let this afternoon come to an end. ]
no subject
[Peter, whoever that was, was clearly unwise. But David smirked. He didn't have to worry about it with his issued phone. No, that he could absolutely turn the monitoring off with.]
If you'd like, I could disable any inherent monitoring software and hardware that is in the phone you have. The technopathy allows me to do that. Unless another technopath gets at it or it gets toggled back on by some sort of phishing attack, the way that I can encrypt it should keep you more or less safe from that. But I can let you know what Excelsior is like if you're interested. It seems the most tech focused and so the one I'm most worried about. Little Love is, to my suspicions, the least likely to be heavily monitored. That's the vibe I get from those sorts of Small Town, America places.
[If Balthier needed to get a move on, David wouldn't stop him. He could use some time to think through today, and see if he couldn't escape Sunset Falls before whatever was going on here caught him up again.]
no subject
I will happily take you up on disabling any tracking on my phone. The map and messaging are useful but I don’t like the reciprocal data relay. Speaking of…I cannot express how deeply disappointed I am to say I am needed elsewhere shortly. Please help me put your contact information into this phone, and please assure me we will see each other again sooner rather than later. I promise I am not exaggerating in saying this has been the most enjoyable exchange I have had in a long time — slaying gods and all.
[ Balthier hands over his phone. He is certainly happy to take help where his own skills are limited. ]
no subject
[But he smiles as Balthier talks and holds out his phone. David doesn't even take the thing in hand, he merely touches it briefly before gesturing for Balthier to put it away.]
I promise we'll see each other soon if I can arrange it. I might actually need to borrow you for something if you don't decide in the next few hours that you regret this whole conversation. If you do, text me and tell me to leave you alone. My phone number is already in there, I took the liberty of favoriting myself in your contacts and putting me in speed dial as number seven. Now get moving. I can do the rest of the work on your phone while you're walking. I'm interfaced with your phone right now, and I'll 'lock' it on the way out.
no subject
no subject
Until next time, Balthier. Now go, don't be late. Not even fashionably. Get more settled here before you get up to that.