vallo

We have over 30 missing Outlanders so far and more names are still coming in. The portal they went through is still open, and now protected by a barrier so we don't lose track of anyone else for now, but it does seem to be a working portal, but we cannot guarantee that it is a two-way street, given our friends and family have not stepped back through yet we have to assume the way may be blocked on their side.

We still plan to launch a rescue mission, but the group going through also needs to be aware of the risks and be able and willing to set up communications in the event that a return trip won't be immediate.

The DOA is going to be confirming the list of those missing so we have exact names and numbers, and studying the portal to ensure it's safe to travel through.

The current plan is that tomorrow we'll send a group through, if you wish to sign up to be on the rescue mission, put your name here and be at the DOA offices in the morning for a full briefing. Pack ONE bag, no larger than what you can carry and run with, and bring your weapons of choice.

[ooc note: posted right after portal appears/disappearances happen]

Um uh

Hey, anyone else in the city see that? I'm at the bookstore and was talking to Caleb and saw what looked like some massive creature just disappear through a portal, I think? It's hard to see through the buildings, but there's something going on and--



And is anyone else suddenly missing?? Because Caleb and Frumpkin were right here and now they're both gone.



ETA: People are missing with no list, but I figure someone will want to have one to keep track? So I'll add to this as people make mention.

Abi Blyg
Alex Stern
Ashton Greymoore
Billy Kaplan
Bucky Barnes
Caleb Widogast
Chetney Pock O'Pea
Dorian Storm
Edwin Courcey
Eli Grimsbane
FCG
Joshua Rosfield
Julian Blackthorn
Keith Kogane
Kir Agrupnin-Widogast
Lan Xichen
Lance Alvarez
Lee Thompkins
Matthew Lynch
Mike Wheeler
Monkey D Luffy
Nancy Wheeler
Nebula
Noctis Lucis Caelum
Ostyia Rabalska
Ronan Lynch
Sanji
Serefin Meleski
Silas
Teddy Kaplan-Altman
Tommy Shepherd

A kitten with no apparent human attached just walked up to my desk in Special Collections to sit on my keyboard and demand pets. What's the protocol on spontaneously appearing animals here? Am I free to take him home and give him a pretentious name, or do I need to clear that with some Vallo authority first?

Well, that was an experience. Thankfully I have only vague, dreamlike memories of my time as a Christmas elf, for the most part. I do quite clearly remember buying up all the rooms with two beds, however, so you're all welcome for that.

[Filtered to Alex Stern]
I will swear to never address you as Whimsy if you swear to never address me as any variation of Tinsel Merryjingle.

Hey folks! I know the weather has thrown us all for a loop but we at Mushroom Hill want to make your stay as festive and easy as possible! I'm Matthew, I'm a part of organizing the activities here, you'll see Talcott helping me, and together we are going to have SO much Christmas cheer.

You'll find printed schedules with events going on for as long as you're here--I'm personally really looking forward to the gingerbread house demo and have just barely resisted eating the materials so there will be things to build with! Later, we'll have a full on competition, which is going to be SO good, both artists and chefs really get into it! We also have ice skating lessons at the pond, there are firepits that we'll have s'mores and hot chocolate, in the lobby we'll be decorating the tree and singing carols, there are ornament and garland creating stations that will popup, and there's sledding, snowboarding, and skiing for all levels! And! We're super lucky to have yoga practice going on twice in the morning, afternoon, and evening. We'll also have opportunities to give back to the community by making Christmas cards and putting together baskets of goodies, because it's important for everyone to feel seen and cared for at all times. :)

There's so much going on, and it'll happen for as long as the snow sticks around, so don't feel like you're going to miss anything! Of course, you can just explore and discover everything on your own, but if you need an excuse to get to know people, come hang out! :))))))))))))

Elves

Is that Tinsel AND Whimsy here?? Christmas Connections sent two of the best! You guys rock around the Christmas tree. :)))))))))) The Big Guy put me on a mission but if you need anything, even just cookies and cocoa, just say so, I'll be right there!!

Ronan

( Christmas gifs beware )

I suppose I should officially introduce myself on this Network now that I'm all settled in and have received my requisite hour of incomprehensible Edwin Courcey explanation. Though I suppose neither I nor anyone trying to make some sort of immersive illusion could have managed to make that feel quite so authentic. I swear, he's the only man I know who could make "space-time continuum" and "travelling to an alternate dimension" put me to sleep.

In any case, my name is Violet Debenham. I see we're all very open about ~*~magic~*~ here, so I may as well get it out of the way that I'm a magician, and an actress. And I suppose this might be a nice vacation from real life, at least for a little while even if Edwin said he's been here for nearly two yea

I could use a gym buddy, but for studying. I've got an exam next week and I know I'm probably not the only one - someone up for keeping me accountable?

Note: guilt doesn't really work on me, but a competitive vibe does. I'll have headphones on. Quiet room in the Library maybe? (Weird to capitalize it. Fucking emphasis. The Library.) If something attacks it we can find a new place.

Usually I avoid the vulgarity of ranting online, but today is a special case.

In Special Collections, we have rules for handling books. Each book has its own particular rules, which I very clearly communicate to patrons when they request their reading material. These rules are not arbitrary. Each one exists either to protect the books or to protect the patrons. When they are followed, they work.

This morning I had a patron who thought rules about books did not apply to him. He's a wizard, you see, and he knows what he's doing, and he doesn't like authority, so he doesn't need to listen to the librarian telling him what will happen if he mishandles the book he's requested. Hardly a spell can touch him, he says, just give him the book and get on with it.

"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

Now a priceless antique copy of Secret Worlds is covered in blood and will require a specialist to clean and restore. We can only hope that they'll be successful in doing so; this sort of damage is very difficult to repair. And I suppose we must also hope that medical personnel are successful in reattaching the wizard's fingers.

WHO: Darlington and Temeraire
WHAT: A chat over dragons and unique books
WHEN: early October
WHERE: The Great Library's Special Collections department
WARNINGS: None

( Portal Principles cannot be left without supervision, because an old enchantment on it causes it to occasionally turn invisible. )

WHO: Everybody who came out to smash things at the warehouse today, with featured players Darlington, Nancy, Astarion, Tav, Prompto, Nebula, Rocket, Adora, and Kellach
WHAT: Everybody came here to smash things, and then they get roped into one final number.
WHERE: The Warehouse of Horrors
SONG CHOICE: A situationally relevant take on One Day More from Les Miserables

( One Song More! )

(SCENE: The Great Library, Special Collections Department. Daniel “Darlington” Arlington III is deep in thought at the desk following Alex’s musical number. He knows he needs to talk to Alex, of course–about everything. About his trip to Hell, about what she went through while he was gone, about his feelings for her, about the complications around those feelings…(maybe not about the guitar part starting to play faintly in the background, creating a soundtrack to his thoughts. Queen’s “Under Pressure” (which of COURSE he could tell from the opening of “Ice Ice Baby” is getting slightly louder as he continues to consider the great issue: he is not good at talking, not about the things that mattered most. He’s polite, a fine diplomat, good at finessing a situation, but he doesn’t discuss FEELINGS. It’s the Arlington family way. No line from a comedian ever spoke to Darlington like that John Mulaney bit about cramming all your feelings down inside until one day, you die. That was exactly how the Arlingtons did things.)

( Doo doo dah dah )
(That last round took it out of him—Darlington has broken a sweat doing all that running around the stage, and he just knows someone is bound to come investigate. As the piano plays him out, Darlington slumps back into his chair and waits for the grand embarrassment to come.)

Who: Alex Stern, with a brief guest star from Darlington
What: Alex gets hit with the musical bug, and Whit is nostalgic for an early Lorde EP
Where: Main Street and the Library of Alexandria
Song Reference: Love Club by Lorde
Anything else? Fine with anyone seeing this!

( But that's the joke, that's the punchline/You won't expect the floor caving in. )

>> It seems obvious that the horn equivalent of a furry would be a horny.

So by now ah- most of you are aware we had a situation at the Library. We still don't have all of the details - I don't know if we ever will, but what we do know is this:

Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria, approached the library this morning, and challenged King Noctis in an attempt to rule Vallo? Unaware that Noctis is not the King of Vallo.

He threatened Nancy, and the Library wards went defensive, one of the skeletons was killed in the mess, and the King took that as a challenge.

The library went into lockdown mode, and there was a fight. I do believe they underestimated a whole group of librarians.

Nancy was able to knock the amulet off of the King's neck, and that was when the skeletons all disappeared? We have it now, but the amulet is damaged, and the king is gone. I put it in a protected vault for the moment but we'd feel more comfortable if one of the covens takes it, so we're going to reach out to them later for that.

We do have some casualties and people are being taken to the clinic now, but I don't think anything was fatal. Mike, Darlington took Nancy there just a few minutes ago and you may want to visit.

Full disclosure that I am also on my way there now, but I was told by triage that it "should be an easy heal". I didn't even realize I just had a

If anyone has any other information to share, we'd love to hear it at the library, since we'll be documenting this in its entirety.

Tags: !: network post, critical role: orym, stranger things: mike wheeler, the last binding: edwin courcey, the raven cycle: blue sargent, the raven cycle: matthew lynch, the raven cycle: richard campbell gansey, the raven cycle: ronan lynch, voltron: keith kogane, ₴ inactive: alex stern, ₴ inactive: brigitte lindholm, ₴ inactive: darlington, ₴ inactive: joshua rosfield, ₴ inactive: nikolai lantsov (2), ₴ inactive: noctis lucis caelum (2), ₴ inactive: prompto argentum (2), ₴ inactive: tex kogane

WHO: Darlington and Alex Stern
WHAT: A reunion!
WHEN: 8 September
WHERE: The walk from the DOA to Black Elm
WARNINGS: Spoilers for Hell Bent, talk of demonic control

( what's up nerd. come pick me up. )

Filtered to DOA and Library Staff:

A book was stolen from the Great Library’s Special Collections section about twenty minutes ago. I made an attempt at apprehending the thief but was unsuccessful in doing so. I am hereby requesting an investigation by the DOA, as I suspect this is part of a pattern.

Additional relevant information:
- the stolen volume is The Art of Control, a study in mind magic that is forbidden in nearly every world where it exists
- the thief was dressed in ancient Assyrian style, Neo-Assyrian Empire period
- the thief seemed to disappear in the alley behind the library

How far back in time does Vallo pull people from? I think I saw an ancient Assyrian (possibly Sumerian? I'm not an expert on the period) walking very purposefully through the town this morning. I thought about asking him, then recalled the elephant's 'satiable curiosity and decided I should probably not. (Kipling is problematic, but I retain my childhood fondness for the Just So Stories nonetheless).

[Filtered to the Great Library]
The east wing bathroom poltergeist is back. Gansey, do you think you could shoo him off until the exorcist can get here? I've put up the Out of Order sign in the meantime in hopes that no one else gets sprayed in the face by the bathroom sink.

It feels odd to say, but I am a little relieved to see that this problem with the magic is more widespread. I had worried for a time that something had happened at Sutton Cottage while I wasn't on the grounds that had turned the magic bad. I hope the problem will be resolved swiftly.

[Private to Robin]

Robin,

When I left for work this morning, Briar seemed to be feeling poorly. If you have a chance at some point today, will you go and check on him?

Thank you.

[Filtered to Richard Gansey, Blue Sargent, Ronan Lynch, Adam Lynch, Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley, Edwin Courcey, and Rosalind Walker]

Daniel Arlington V and Sabrina Spellman request the honor of your presence at a dinner party to be held at Black Elm on Saturday, the 12th of August, 2023 at 7 in the evening. This celebrates no particular occasion and is primarily an excuse for the hosts to practice being human again.

RSVP by network with regrets or acceptance at your convenience.

Today I discovered that the Great Library holds not only the fragments of Sappho that I've read, but two entire collections of her poetry. Some days I can't help but love this place.

[Filtered to Sabrina]
I'd like to hold a dinner party at Black Elm. Could you be talked into hosting it with me? I could use someone else at the other end of the table. I would be inviting some of the library staff (Edwin, Gansey and his girlfriend, Nancy and her girlfriend), and of course if you agree to co-host you'd be free to add a name or two to the guest list. The dining table seats fourteen total.