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fae_of_the_rose) wrote2025-06-13 05:14 pm
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June Spirit Realm Event Log
Dominant Element: Light
Waning Element: Shadow
Full Moon: June 11th - June 13th
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It's summertime! June in Kaisou has the best weather, and this year is no exception. Warm days, comfortable nights, sunshine that hits just right without being sweltering--it's perfect! Even the Spirit Vein is perfect, filling the night sky with beautiful colors.
Home At LastAfter the chilly, haunting month of May, June is a welcome relief. There's Pride events happening all over town, including the yearly contest at the Vogue, and the city feels like one big summer party. It's the start of the tourist season, too, meaning there's more people milling about than usual and just adding to the festive atmosphere.
Oddly enough, at the start of the month everyone on the app got a beautiful invitation to the Goblin King's Masquerade. There's nothing online or around the city about such a masquerade, so maybe you thought it was a prank and threw the letter away.
Maybe you shouldn't have done that. If you throw the letter away, you'll find that something important to you--your voice, your color vision, your time--was stolen from you. Odd, that..
Thirteen O'ClockOn the morning of June 15th, your phone will receive a notification from the Zodiac on the Libra app.
ALERT: SPIRIT REALM GATE DETECTED IN ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT
Element Classification: Light
Danger Level: High
Designation: The Goblin King's Labyrinth
Zodiac has detected a Spirit Gate in the Entertainment District. Reports indicate it's the domain of the Goblin King.
When you get to the Zodiac building, you're met with a ton of typical corporate Pride decorations plastered all over the building. HR seems keen to assure everyone that they've learned from the latest PR fumble. Professor Barbie, at least, makes the rainbows and glitter look good as you head into her lab.
She informs you that Zodiac had been hoping they were wrong about the readings this month, but the invitations and the fact that those who tossed them out are missing something confirms it: the Goblin King himself, Jareth, has invited everyone to a masquerade deep in his realm. He's generally not considered a high threat, as the most he tends to do is steal people away, but his realm is...noteworthy for how dangerous and confusing it is to navigate. Unfortunately, there's no short cut to his castle.
The gate is located in the Entertainment District, just down the street from the Vogue. It looks almost like a bedroom window, with curtains blowing in from the Spirit Realm, and you might be able to hear faint music coming from the gate. Step in, and enter the Labyrinth.
Into the LabyrinthAs you step into the gate, for a moment you can get a look at the entire area. It's massive, and it seems like the Labyrinth goes on for miles. It twists and turns, confusing all who enter it.
And then you're flat on the ground, standing in front of a long, stone corridor. A very, perhaps oddly, straight stone corridor. There's no telling how far it goes, and any attempts to fly up and figure it out (or just cut straight through to Jareth's castle) are stymied by the Goblin King's magic. Looks like the only way through the Labyrinth is to enter.
The Labyrinth is utterly bizarre and confusing, even more a labyrinth. The stone corridor seems to go straight on for ages, unless you happen to find one of the exits hidden by an illusion. The exit leads you to a confusing stone maze (because of course it does), and if you're not careful you might fall down into an oubliette. You'll be quickly rescued by a goblin, however, who will lead you back up into the maze. After that, there's the hedge maze to contend with, which is surprisingly easy to navigate, and then the Fiery Forest. Watch out, because here you'll be accosted by the Fire Gang, a group of odd goblins who can take off their heads to play games...and they may try to take yours.
Put the Fire Gang in their place, and you'll be faced with the most vile part of the Labyrinth: The Bog of Eternal Stench. It is exactly as nasty as the name implies, a perpetually oozing bog that utterly reeks. There is, thankfully, a bridge across it to stable ground, but unfortunately the bridge is ancient and guarded by a small dog-like goblin who refuses to let anyone pass without permission. Ask him for permission (or fight him, if you really want to) and you may pass. Hopefully the bridge won't give out and send you tumbling into the stench!
Dance Magic Dance!If you make it through the Bog, you'll find yourself on solid, stink-less ground once again. Looking around, you'll also realize you're close to the center of the Labyrinth and the castle. Surely you are in the home stretch, free of faerie nonsense?
Oh, if only. Upon reaching the next bit of land (and passing through a bit of forest), you'll end up in the Junk Yard, which is exactly what it sounds like. Piles and piles of junk, all of it rusty and old, fill this place and make it very dangerous to navigate. One wrong move, and an entire pile might come crashing down around you. Linger too long (or just look particularly lost for long enough), and you might be found by one of the residents of this area. They seem helpful, but they're eager to get people to stay in the Junk Yard and will lead you to their house if you choose to follow them. Inside, you'll find your childhood bedroom or a favorite relative's kitchen or just anywhere that makes you feel safe and at home, full of all of your favorite things. They'll do everything they can to keep you there, so you might have to break free on your own or with the help of your friends who came looking for you. Be quick!
After all of that, you'll find yourself in the Goblin City itself and if you thought the Labyrinth was a pain to navigate, one look around the Goblin City might having you wishing to go back into the maze. The streets are tiny, winding, and...filled with you can only assume are the goblins' best attempts at rainbows? They mostly seem to be made of junk haphazardly painted in rainbow colors, but it seems they are trying. At least any goblins around will point you in the direction of the castle. They'll also warn you about the stairways, for some reason. Those of you who have been nice to the goblins might actually get an offer of help, if you're lost or just want an escort to the ball.
Once you reach the castle, the doors are thrown open and you're able to enter. The entrance hall is grand and imposing, but at the far end there is a door. Push it open and--
Find yourself in a hellish room where gravity doesn't play by the rules and there are so many stairways going in directions they should not be going in. Those warnings make sense now. You can eventually find the path out of here, but it seems to be random like pretty much everything else in this place. In the event the Escher Room stymies you (or if you get lost in the Labyrinth yourself and weren't polite to the rest of the goblins), don't worry. A helpful goblin will eventually show up to help you, complaining all the while.
As The World Falls DownYou finally make your way to the ballroom (with a quick stop for a shower if you did indeed get dunked in the bog), the big doors open wide to let the guests come and go as they please. After all of that, this party better be worth it.
Step over the threshold, and you'll find your clothes magically changed into something appropriate for such an event. Look around, and you'll see that the ballroom is almost excessive in its decorations, though it still somehow manages to look good. At the far end, lounging on his throne, is the Goblin King himself. He thanks you for coming, and the moment he does anything you had stolen is suddenly returned to you. He does at least apologize for taking such precious things, but it's clear he doesn't really think it was a problem since you got them back in the end.
There is a massive dance floor with tables filled with food and other goodies lining the walls. The food is entirely safe to eat, and there are even little place settings for each attendee. These place settings are marked by three glowing peaches that will open up to reveal gifts from the Goblin King, as well as edible peach fruit. Again, he doesn't seem at all concerned if anyone is horrified by the peaches. Rude.
A closer look at all the decorations also reveals something a little...interesting. They're all tastefully colored, rainbows and silver mostly, but there are also a lot of songbird-and-dragon motifs. And apple cider and osmanthus wine. And tea. And if you ask Jareth about it, he will simply shrug and say he couldn't let such old friends get married without some sort of engagement party.
So eat, drink, dance! Have fun at this one of a kind masquerade! And then get out of here as soon as the ball is over, because this place is crazy.
Once people show up to the masquerade ball, everything that was stolen will be returned! And thankfully you won't have to re-traverse the Labyrinth to get out. Once the ball is nearing its end, Jareth will just open a door and drop everyone off back outside the gate in the Entertainment District.
The dominant element this month is Light! Anyone with an affinity to the shadow element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Shadow will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.
The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here.