AUTUMN JAMBOREE • open site-wide social

Mura's Appearance:

Mura sincerely wanted to ask himself; what was happening outside the window? He had heard about the monstrous atmosphere that suddenly decided to cover the lands in the blink of an eye, and he could easily agree that it must’ve been tied with the event precisely a year ago - that only meant that the big dude Halloween fascist was out and doing troubles once more. A sweat pearl dropped down his forehead by the mere imagination of what was up for today; it felt as if it was yesterday when he was trapped inside that hall along with the yōkais and legends and demons… but once when he leaned his head on his right hand, he started to notice something strange…

“Mura’s glowing!”
“Ew, that’s just nasty- wait, you mean that?!”
“What did you mean by- I mean, yes! He’s glowing!”
“That’s not even light, that’s-“

“G-Guys, guys, shut up!” Mura furiously shouted at them… followed by a moment of silence. Those two ghosts better stay silent- wait, no, what the hell?! Where did those thoughts come from?! Taking a quick look at his hand, Mura saw it for himself; this was Pluto’s magic surging through him. But he dealt with that crap already, so why did it make him so triggered?! Also, why was he even conscious and aware of it?! It pissed him off… again, why was he pissed? Checking under his sleeves, it didn’t seem that he wet his bed or anything… but his mind had some kind of problem or issue with things at the moment.

As if someone had insulted him for real… as if someone had hurt his friends or hurt Kyuken or Zirconis… but none of that had taken place as far as he remembered…

Oh, there was a letter at the door. Maybe if he-

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Aaaaaaand that was how he found himself dressed in his Toad Hermit kimono, his unneeded katana strapped to his back, and practically just his ‘dressed for the occasion’ wear… although, one clear trait apparent on him was the ungodly energy covering his body in response to the Moon Pollen falling from the black sky and accursed moon, casually dissolving upon impact with his skin.

“W-Wha?! What?! N-No, not again!!!” he flailed in confusion, “Kyuken! Zirconis! Are you there?!” He spun his head around to find them, blitz of dark magic falling off his skin and slowly fading away. This atmosphere triggered his trump card and made it apparent to everyone around him - how sad that was, because if he was to challenge someone, then they’d know the limit of his magic! Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!

… Anyway, the letter said something about a party and stuff. Slapping himself mentally, Mura tried to regain control - that was his favorite mode, controlled… yes, calm and collected and- woah, a banquet!? He quickly dashed towards the tables filled with foods and snacks, thoroughly enjoying whatever his fingers could reach. There was a bunny girl at the other side of the table nibbling on some kind of celery, and feeling rather triggered by her choice of food, the shaman reached a pumpkin pie slice to her. “Yeah, veggies are good and all, but they’re even better when made into cakes…!”

Meanwhile, the blue spirit ball head and the green spirit ball head found themselves in different spots; Kyuken was caught between a blue-haired lady’s cleavage and a white-haired male as former had hugged him, and Zirconis floated right in front of a blonde girl with a reality problem…

@Gisen
@Amalie & Johann (Kyuken is there)
@Leona (Zirconis is there)

Starting Appearance:

Aranea found herself strolling through the dark. Intellectually, she was considering the opportunity this presented for catching a little snack. She didn't need one, but a smart predator never wasted an opportunity to hunt. She had plenty of storage back at her current cave lair. The darkness carried something straight to her heart though. This...altruistic need to help mortals, regardless of what she got in return for it. Glancing up and down the street, it was hard to see if there was anyone nearby in need of help.

She figured it'd be easier to fly around and look, but she also still knew better than to blow her cover out in public, so the blonde mage took her silver key from her hip and held it dramatically toward the skyward darkness. "Open! Gate of the Celestial Spider!"

It was all for show of course to cover publicly phasing into her very obviously celestial spirit form in public. Thankfully most of public didn't understand enough about celestial wizards to know the spirits didn't usually possess their wizards when summoned.

Shifted Appearance:

The celestial spider reattached her silver key to her hip and flew off into the murk, keeping an eye the few below her for any mortals that needed help. She did come across an old woman who seemed rather frightened and confused on one street corner. The woman screamed when Aranea came close enough to see in the gloom. The purple spirit with her glowing pink gaze offered a warm smile, "Don't worry. I'm Lucy Van Pelt. You seem lost, ma'am. I'm wizard. I've just summoned one of my celestial spirits to help. I can fly you home if you like."

The woman stunned silent, nodded, but as it turned out, the glow of Aranea's celestial eyes that did all the work. By their pink glow, the woman could see she was only one lft turn away from her front door. She smiled and waved her thanks to strange spirit.

Aranea smiled warmly, glad to have helped someone, and wandered on, on foot. Wandering through the streets of Tolganen, she didn't come across any other civilians in need. She did hear music not so far ahead, and finally some light ahead other than the soft glow of her own eyes.  To many, the celestial spider in her natural celestial spirit form might appear as one of those, the Pumpkin Lord's creations. Hopefully, the two guildmates she saw ahead at this party woud recognize her, however new the spirit was. She waved one left arm and two of her right arms in greeting. "Hello. I'm not  exactly sure how I wound up here. Did I take a wrong turn in the streets?

"H-hi there Elvira. I'm Leona Jarnefeldt." Leona greeted the brown-haired young woman whose cheeks were puffed out like a squirrel's a minute ago. Elvira seemed friendly enough. Leona had almost worked up enough courage to attempt a conversation when more people came crowding in. First that Johann guy, then a dark-haired guy who was obsessed with sweets, then a blue-haired girl who wore a long black dress, then a bunny girl, then a guy in a robe who looked kind of like a samurai, and finally a half-naked white-haired dude with no indoor voice and an exaggerated sense of his own importance. The party certainly drew a lot of guests.

Leona worked up the courage to leave the safety of the table and talk to Elvira. She was halfway to the girl when a green spirit ball head popped up in front of her. The blonde's face went pale and her knees weakened.

"I don't know where your body is! You can't have mine to use as the vessel for your soul! So leave me alone! JUST GO AWAY!" Leona declared before running and hiding behind the bunny girl who was chewing on celery. This party was getting too weird for her. There were floating instruments and strange people and spirit heads floating around. She was so distracted by the oddness going on that a full minute later she realized that her hands were placed on the bunny girl's shoulders. Leona blushed and removed them, then stepped away to give the brown-haired girl some space.

"H-hi there. I'm Leona Jarnefeldt." Leona meekly introduced herself to the bunny. What was a rabbit doing in human shape? Was there hallucinogenic powder in the air?

"And who's that L-Lester Drynetti guy? Is he someone important?" Leona awkwardly asked her new acquaintance. That name sounded kind of familiar. It belonged to someone famous who was part of a big guild somewhere. Maybe the rabbit could tell Leona more.

Frosty hues slid boredly between Elvira and the blue shirt girl. Theo barely suppressed an eyeroll. As more and more people appeared, the jello mage crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. He could feel his energy waning just standing here amongst all the activity and glee, like a battery in a toy stuck in the on position...except the toy wasn't doing anything but existing. And even that was against his will at the moment. "Find a way to get us back," he commanded Elvira, lowering his arms only to tug at his plum colored button up as if to rid it of wrinkles. Soon he did the same to his sleek dress pants, eyeing the pressed line in the front town to his shoes, whose brilliant shine had been sullied by tawdry hay in a tacky outside get-together fit only for uncivilized bumpkins.

To make matters worse, he heard a deranged yet familiar voice cursing at him about lack of food served. "It's quite beyond the time of breakfast, Lester," huffed the squad mate, wondering why they ever named their group anything to do with nasty sugar. Speaking of, now that he had a makeshift weapon that no longer held any of the candies, the bedraggled male was swinging it at the jello mage's head. Deftly dodging, the young man grumbled out a scold. "You can feed yourself, you know. Also, you aren't an animal. Why don't you have any pants?" he asked, picking up a platter of stuffed jalapeño poppers and shoving it at the white haired terror. "Stuff it," he spat, referring to the guild master's cakehole.

Generally uninterested in the continually arriving strangers, he did catch the name Leona from the blue shirt girl, and that the man not too far away that seemed to nearly vibrate with energy was Johann. A clingy girl thought arriving in nightwear was appropriate for this sort of thing, and there was still more he couldn't be bothered to spend energy on. Speaking the only other two names he knew, he asked more people to help his plight. "Johann! Leona! Whoever else! How do we get home? I don't want to be here..."

Oh, life had been rough. A shadowy creature hunched in a back corner of Boomslang, hands clamped over his delicate ears. A stretched out, extremely frumpy red shirt with a couple stains hung on him as if he was nothing more than a lumpy clothes hanger, and for whatever reason one pant leg was rolled slightly higher than the other. Hole ridden socks were the only comfort his feet had. Normally immaculate violet tresses were wild and unkempt, as if he'd slept hard and forsaken any mirrors and reflective surfaces he'd come across. Iris looked like a hobo, but at least this hobo was one to receive mail.

A bat that frankly scared him enough to scream landed its leathery self on his face, twitching around and mussing the hair even more. Frantically clawing the creature off of him, he tossed it somewhere into the crowd, not even a flicker to thought to take its eyes first occurring to him. Honestly, he didn't want anyones eyes right now, barely his own sore ones. He just wanted peace and quiet, maybe a nice tea. The smell of all this booze was making him sick.

It took him a few moments to realize there was a letter on his lap. Oh. That's what the bat must have been there for. Carefully opening it, his heart fluttered. A party? Oh, not another one. But...what if it was more quiet than here, where every rainbow light flash and every 'unc unc' techno bump made his soul die a little more...

That thought was all it took, and in a glorious puff the stooped man was in the festive clearing. The music was not as loud and the lights were nice. The straw and grass under his feet felt nice. A trembling smile rose to his lips. This was a little better. It had beer, but no one seemed excessively drunk yet. Talking a relieved step forward, Iris didn't notice he was so close to a snack table and tumbled right into it, knocking both himself and all the snacks over. "OH, g-golly gee, I'm so s-sorry..." the extremely sober ocular mage blanket apologized to whoever was near, scrambling up and shrinking into himself more. Lilac eyes timidly leapt from person to person, noticing how different everyone was.

Noting the hayride, Iris saw somewhere soft to hang out, maybe get to know someone. There was no better way to find out what someone was like inside than to talk to them, right? Making a bee line for it, he asked whoever was on his way to it to join him. "A hayride would be fun, right?" he asked an older male and a couple of girls, not wanting a crowd but also not wanting to be the only one to get involved.

Many strange and odd occurances were spreading through Earthland. From the permanent black sky, to unknown monster sightings, to even altered personalities originating from the mysterious "moon pollen" that had been discovered and continued to cover the world. Not everyone experienced the last thing on that short list, but unfortunately not even Samira's mind protection could keep her as one of the lucky ones. Just like the others she too had a personality switch, and it was cringing and annoying enough that even her own spirits could not tolerate to be around her anymore. The once modest Saint that valued everyone's accomplishments and power above her own no matter how small it seemed to be had turned into a completely arrogant and conceited woman that deserved a slap or two to knock her off that pedestal. Possibly a shove in front of a train instead really but that wasn't important. It wasn't as if in her current mindset she believed anyone could do it anyway. Ha! Please. That was a ridiculous and almost too humorous thought.

She too had also received a mysterious letter of mysteriousness that was inviting her to some kind of jamboree. Didn't something like that happen already some time ago? Samira couldn't remember. She wasn't invited back then, and naturally her altered mind concluded that it was because the host of the last party did not recognize just how cool and important she was. Well, they seemed to correct that mental flaw, didn't they? For now she had an invitation and unlike the normal Samira the altered one was going to enjoy the social gathering and have some party fun! Or that had been the plan at least when first reading the letter. In puffs of smoke she had been teleported before she even had the opportunity to change into a better party outfit. Rude!

Once she looked around the new location she could see that she was in an outdoor type of party in the middle of a forest. There were floating musical instruments, plenty of snacks, and even some sort of hayride going on. Interesting. As for the people there... Samira could only stare blankly at each and every one. Not really her type of people. For some reason there were people there with attire that was barely even appropriate. And were those snacks on the ground? What moron did that? That wasn't even going into that people were not exactly partying. They were all mainly standing around. "What kind of lame party is this with all of these losers around?" That's right. A party that had several well known and named mages was lame. Aces, Guildmasters, Rising Stars. Each and every one of them that deserved every ounce of respect were now considered as losers to the altered Saint. The ones that had no status at all, well, they just were not even worthy of being acknowledged.

The party was somewhat saved for her when she did notice that another Wizard Saint was there. She had never met Sorano, but her face was something many across Fiore and beyond knew. Good. Another member of the cool kids club was there. Maybe more would show. Gisen was another familiar face and one Samira had no issue with being there. The bunny girl was cool by association with her what with their past Guildmaster and Ace relationship. Those around the bunny girl though? Oh, hell no. They're ruining the poor bunny's reputation! Well except for Sorano, who was more interested in the boy that was near Gisen as well. Still, Samira had to save her before news of it spread!

Samira walked over towards the bunny and those that were around her, giving that long green hair of hers an egotistical flip as she did so. That's what long hair was good for, right? Damn straight! "Gigi, dear, I know you have been suffering from amnesia as of late, but that is no excuse to be around these..." Her words trailed off as her gaze shifted from one person of "loser" status to the next. "People." Naturally that word coming off as if that were the nicest thing that she could come up with to describe them all.

"Guys, I hate to break it to you, but I'm not sure if there's any way out of this party." Leona unhappily informed Elvira and Theo. Part of her had wanted to leave too, especially when the green-haired girl with the uncanny power level had called everyone gathered losers. That was profoundly disheartening. Leona had done everything she could to earn respect from the more established guilds and earn the respect of other Guild Masters and this was what her efforts had gotten her... a casual dismissal as little more than an oxygen thief.

To say that Leona was approaching the point of depression would be like saying that water was wet. Maybe it was safer to hide behind the snack table after all. But spotting a pumpkin decoration reminded her of something. The party was hosted by a "Yaqtin, the Pumpkin Lord." He might be the only way out.

"Hey, has anyone seen Yaqtin? Yaqtin the Pumpkin Lord? That dude?" Leona mustered the courage to ask everyone shortly after her self-confidence had been eviscerated.