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bottlecaplogs2025-04-16 10:09 am
bayhelpers) wrote in bottlecaplogs2025-04-16 10:09 am
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APRIL 2025 EVENT LOG
The sun rises, and a gentle breeze blows. A day like any other arrives in Bottlecap Bay, and for many of the pokemon that so recently arrived it is a now familiar process. Members of the various guilds flock to the Quest Board, in search of tasks to better provide for the town. Others, maintaining businesses of their own within the small settlement, start to open their doors for another day of work.
There is something different about this day however, and it is a difference that defines the next number of them. There is never truly a dull moment here after all, and it’s time to get involved.
DONATION DRIVE
As spring fully settles into the bay, the clinic begins to advertise for additional activities on the Quest Board. A call for donors is made- but donors of what? Pokemon arriving in response to the request will find that answer to mean “anything and everything that can be given” - along with potential medical samples to help with further research into the mysterious illness, there are a great many things that can be made from shed feathers, brushed-out undercoat or trimmed horns and claws.
Or even sweat, alarming as that may seem.
Those willing will be given small interviews in which they determine what to donate, and after the process (however involved), be given a small boxed treat as compensation. And of course, they’ll record the contributions with their guild leaders too!
⟡ WHAT NOW?
Donated materials can be used for a great many things, and throughout the later half of April local businesses will be happily showing their relevant crafts off. Pokemon are invited to try their hand at sewing satchels made using Spinarak threads, spinning yarn from Stufful fur, or stuffing pillows with Ducklett down- and perhaps if they donated anything themselves, they can even make something of their own.
Literally.
NO “I” IN TEAM
With the need to re-evaluate the results of recent expeditions through the surrounding forest before making the move to branch out further, the leaders of the three guilds have come together with some training exercises to better pass the time. Rather than sit and wait between tasks determined by the quest board, the last weeks of April see various events hosted through the city with one goal in mind:
Team Building.
A. ⟡ SHOW-AND-TELL
As part of an effort to encourage understanding and community, the Guilds each host various meet-and-greets in their personal buildings- or in the case of the Lum Guild, the public Archives. It’s a chance for pokemon to show each other where they sleep and eat, to share a little of their lives with their fellows from other guilds.
There are also more awkward sharing activities- tossing a ball in a circle and giving a fact about oneself. Tying each other limb to limb and performing races. Or even gift exchanges with the donor crafts! Nothing says community like a present from the heart.
B. ⟡ STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT
As an extra step from simply showing what each guild room looks like, sleepovers will be encouraged through the remaining month as well. Perhaps it’s time for a repeat of the great Oran Sleep-Pile- or maybe a sequel hosting can be held in the Canopy with the Cheri Berries.
It’s a little trickier with members of the Lum Guild, with each one having their own apartment of sorts, but just ask! Surely a few friends can pile together in their Lum buddy’s house.
C. ⟡ THE GREAT ESCAPE
Polteageist is thrilled with the success of the ‘escape rooms’ from March. As such, the existing courses and challenges have been since repurposed in order to encourage pokemon to work together, improving on the initial project. Once again working in pairs, dangerous (but not lethal!) challenges await those who wish to sign up for them. As with before, there are three different rooms to choose from, and experienced rescue Pokemon will be on call the entire time. Anyone who takes longer than the allotted time will be rescued.
⟡ Ocean room. Two Pokemon are put to sleep and wake up in a small cave beneath the water, with pockets of oxygen for those who need them. Upon waking, they must work together to escape the labyrinth of caves beneath the water and make it back to Bottlecap Bay. Some obstacles along the way may include: a maze-like cave system with misleading routes, paths with less or no sunlight, strange plants that may inflict status effects, agitated or disoriented wild Pokemon, and varying water temperatures/underwater geysers. It has an hour time limit, so good luck!
⟡ Forest room. Two Pokemon are put to sleep and wake up in the center of a dense forest, with tree cover blocking most sunlight. Upon waking, they must work together to find their directions, navigate through thick brush and forest, and make it back to Bottlecap Bay. Some obstacles along the way may include: the fog, collapsed floors into cave systems, sudden steep drops, aggressive Pokemon and plants, vines, thorns, poisons and toxins. It has a two hour time limit, so good luck!
⟡ Cave room. Two Pokemon are put to sleep and wake up far beneath the city, in one of the many tunnels belonging to the mines. Upon waking, they must work together to reorient themselves and find a way out to Bottlecap Bay. Some obstacles along the way may include: unstable sections of mines leading to collapses, a vast assortment of tunnel directions leading to disorientation, extreme temperatures, lava pits, and lessening oxygen levels. It has an hour time limit, so good luck!
OOC NOTES.
⟡ CWS: body horror, medical imagery
⟡ Though dates specified cover only the last two weeks of April, players may assume continued donation drives and crafting projects to be available through the start of May, though less frequent.
⟡ We of the Bottlecap Bay Help Team would like to extend a sincere thank-you to everyone for their patience during the transition of tasks concerning the upkeep of the game. Current events have been taking a significant toll on many, but we are hoping to finalize Exploration Quest responses within the next few days. Thank you again, and happy threading!
⟡ CWS: body horror, medical imagery
⟡ Though dates specified cover only the last two weeks of April, players may assume continued donation drives and crafting projects to be available through the start of May, though less frequent.
⟡ We of the Bottlecap Bay Help Team would like to extend a sincere thank-you to everyone for their patience during the transition of tasks concerning the upkeep of the game. Current events have been taking a significant toll on many, but we are hoping to finalize Exploration Quest responses within the next few days. Thank you again, and happy threading!
A
Roza, hey!
[Once she's close enough, she sees the woven bark, and then the scars on Firoza's face. The sight of the latter startles her, though only a little. Firoza's tendency to hide her face with her bandanna had made Shoka suspect that something might be hidden beneath it, but she'd thought better of prying.
Not for the first time, she's glad that her lack of a face makes her difficult to read. She tries to play it off as if she didn't notice anything.]
Whatcha got there?
no subject
For a moment, she can forget that this is the first time in a while people have seen her bare face.]
I have bark!
[She says it so triumphantly.]
There are some trees in the Canopy that naturally shed some of their bark, and it's oddly flexible. I made it into chew things. But anyone can use it!
no subject
[Firoza's obviously psyched about it, so even Shoka doesn't have the heart to say nothing about it... Even if it then becomes very obvious that she doesn't fully understand the value of the bark.]
Uh—what for? [Did she say chew things?]
no subject
[She says it so casually, and nudges over one of the completed ones. There's twine wrapped very tightly around both ends, and the strips of bark have been packed together in stacks of three, into three "strands" that are tightly braided, carefully, without splintering the wood. Must be some really flexible bark.]
Ingo told me it is a good idea for me to chew on things to manage my teeth. And, I thought, maybe others might need that as well...and there's so much bark that just falls off of the trees. If you get it soon enough, it's workable. Too late and it's better for tinder.
[Firoza has essentially, painstakingly made a rabbit chew toy. Incredible.]
no subject
[Literal chew toys! Shoka can't help snickering a little.]
Guess that makes sense... You are kinda rabbit-y. [And that's a rabbit thing, isn't it? Admittedly, she knows about as much about them as she does about Nidoran (read: very little).]
no subject
[She doesn't feel very rabbit-y. Then again, a Loporrit or a Viera might have more perspective on that. Even if the latter would be offended, first, if you asked.]
Something in the family of rodents. I don't know if I will always be that way, if I can get to evolve, but it would be a good resource for anyone who needs it.
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[Shoka is fairly certain she won't be needing it herself, but she can appreciate the gesture and effort.
Trying to stay casual, she smoothly changes the subject.]
And... what about that? [She lifts a hand, pointing with one claw to the cheek of her disguise-head—a spot that mirrors the location of Firoza's scar.] I'm guessing you didn't get it in some freak bark-collecting accident.
no subject
[aaaaaAAAAAAAAH, she forgot all about that in her excitement over the bark! Firoza's face flushes, and she looks incredibly sheepish, turning her scarred cheek away from Shoka.]
I...um. No. No, it was not from collecting bark. It...happened in a dream. And then I awoke and it was real?
[It sounds hokey, and yet.]
I just don't want to scare anyone, I apologize...
no subject
[But no one did this to Firoza, it sounds like. Instead, it was only a dream. Just when she thinks she's heard enough about dreams...]
What kind of attack leaves a mark like that?
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But it does warm her heart to know someone cares, right off the bat.]
I - if it was someone here, I would have left my mark. This I swear. [She says it so seriously, as if this is meant to reassure, and a paw strays up to the marks.]
...Some kind of knife I think. I wasn't looking at that - more at the person doing it.
no subject
[Sweet though she is, Firoza is also a literal warrior, Shoka knows. Even so, Shoka would still insist on leaving her own mark somehow.
The mark on Firoza's face now doesn't look like an ordinary wound, let alone something that could be caused by a regular knife—but apparently she was still more focused on the one wielding it.]
Anyone you knew?
no subject
[They were eyes she would never forget.]
Though she is returned to the aetherial sea. I suppose that doesn't matter in a dream.
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[She's heard all sorts of stories about them now, on top of the nightmares she'd been plagued with herself when she first arrived—most recently Ren's. His dreams, too, had left him with a scar and lingering, physical pains even in the waking world, so what Firoza's telling her now is no surprise, but it isn't Shoka's place to share that much.
Maybe it isn't her place to pry into Firoza's case either. If it was her, Shoka would surely hate it and resist with all her bite... But Firoza isn't much like her at all. And among those whose nightmares had gone away in the end, what was the commonality?
Eventually, she hears herself continue on awkwardly:] ... Listen. It sounds dumb, but... I think, sometimes, just talking about 'em helps. Somehow. If you want to? The dreams, I mean.
no subject
...If you would be willing to listen, I would not be against that.
no subject
[Shoka doesn't think of herself as any good at pep talks (or even just talking in general), but she'd done the same for Emporio, Perrin, and Firepaw before, hadn't she?
When Firoza doesn't start talking right away, Shoka attempts, trying to be gentle,] I know it's really none of my business, but I guess... you can start by saying who it was?
no subject
...Venat.
[The name hurts her heart to say.]
Covered in - I cannot say what kind of grime and blood. Eyes...brighter and more vibrant and yet, so cold. I do not think I will ever forget the sight of those eyes.
no subject
It's just as well. Firoza is the one who's supposed to be doing the talking here, after all.]
... Yikes. Did you two have beef, or...?
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Absolutely not. She was an ally and friend, a dear person, even before I knew her true name.
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Then why would she come at you like that? [Though there were consequences in the waking world, it was still a dream; maybe she didn't have a sensible reason at all.] If all of that were to actually happen, I mean...
[cw: stormblood/shadowbringers things, scary dream imagery]
[Venat wouldn't begrudge her for being flung to some far-off star, changed beyond recognition, and working to help the beings there, would she? No, Firoza thinks - it'd be another adventure to her, just as she thinks of it.]
There were other things about the dream, too. The fog...it reminds me of a weapon that was nearly unleashed upon the world, though here it's not nearly as deadly. But in the dream...well, the weapon was called "Black Rose". And there were so many briars and black roses sucking me into...death, and decay.
[She takes a moment to breathe, and shake away the after-images behind her eyes.]
And there were many grabbing hands. I don't think they belonged to the living.
no subject
If it was only nearly unleashed, I'm guessing you put a stop to it somehow?
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[Somehow going to another world and influencing its balance of aether by almost becoming a monster made Zenos look at a biological weapon and go, this is some weak baby stuff Dad, fuck you, you're not ruining my rematch with my best frenemy
Weird how that happens]
no subject
[Firoza did say that the nightmare may have been playing on something inside her, after all, and that the fog reminded her of that weapon.]
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[That's not to say someone couldn't make something else terrible in the same vein, but if you sit around worried about everyone making new terrible biochemical weapons, you're going to drive yourself to the brink.]
I suppose...my memories can be quite potent, in this regard. When our dreams are pushed to such lengths.