[P] Pierce the Veil [Over!]

🌠 - Keep exit-searching

Able to properly navigate, you resume seeking a way out of this cubby you've mistakenly entered. Unfortunately, it's almost as much of a maze as the library is. And you keep hitting your head on the low ceiling. But you continue to rally your persistence. If you don't figure a way out of here, you're going to have to yell until somebody finds you or something. And that would be embarrassing.

Due to the space being so smushed, you continue to knock things over on your mission. It's easy to tell where you've been by the trail of carnage in your wake. It comes to your aid though when you tip over a particularly heavy tower of books on your own tail only to reveal what looks like a tiny door in the wall complete with a tiny door handle. You struggle to get your big mitts on the thing in a way that can be useful. On top of that, the door is really wedged closed. When you manage to get enough of a grip to heave on it, you shake loose a cloud of dense dust. Coughing and sneezing, you keep wrenching on the handle. This is the only way out you've found, it has to work...!

After a good fifteen minutes, you realize that this is a push door. It's still thoroughly jammed, but it creaks open pleasantly after significantly less effort. You're not totally sure where you've come out, as there happens to be a tree growing here. You're totally shrouded with a cheery green canopy. It's fairly apparent that you're not on the ground floor either. At least you're out...?

TL;DR: You knock over a stack of books and find a tiny door. You pull the push door for way too long until you get it open. Outside, you're inside a tree's canopy and thusly not on the ground floor

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🌲 Conclusion 🌲

🌠 - Peek at some papers

While you're lurking about in here, you can't help that some of the paper-litter keeps catching your eye. There's a lot of them with sketches of mythical creatures drawn in dramatic and noble light. And with such attention to detail...! Deciding a few minutes won't hurt, you stoop over to leaf through the drawings (and their many related paragraphs of information). You're quickly enraptured - there's just so much here! One of the artists in particular has charmed you with their style, so you keep searching for more of their work splayed across the floor. You're having a delightful time, but then you free a sheet that makes you stop

The paper initially looks completely blank aside from the artist's signature. But if you move it just so, the light catches on some sort of golden holographic ink. It's hard to see the whole picture at once like this, but it's almost giving you chills anyway. You can't quite pin down why you feel this way and the art doesn't particularly offer any hints. It depicts a small group of Snakekeys (maybe faintly familiar), all very distraught about something. Their expressions are so pained and real... It's unsettling

While you're looking, you realize the ink is getting...brighter? Very abruptly, it increases in luminosity until it simply flashes off the page. You try to get the holo to shimmer again, but it's like it's up and vanished

TL;DR: You see art that catches your eye and start looking at it. One piece, showing a small group of very forlorn keke, unsettles you, but it disappears off the paper soon after you find it

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🌲 Conclusion 🌲

🌠 - Freak out

On the list of things that are okay, this is not on that list. You're immediately sent into a (literally) blind panic. You rush around, screeching and flailing your arms. Of course, you can't see anything, so you're bumping into a ton of stuff. There's the sound of dozens of books flopping to the floor and papers being stirred up as if in a whirlwind. On top of that, you keep getting hit with things falling down from places you can't see and bashing your face into the walls that seem to come out of nowhere! This does nothing to soothe your nerves and you continue throwing a royal tantrum until you draw attention

Maranda arrived at the scene first, little Cocoa in tow. Ae very gently and politely helped you out of the hollow you were making a wreck of, but now that you're loose, you've started to get pretty embarrassed. Maranda's very concerned that you've hurt or mentally scarred yourself, so ae's being perhaps a bit overbearing. You just want to get out of here before your face starts turning colors. With a quick mutter that you're fine, you dismiss yourself

TL;DR: You royally freak out and Maranda has to come rescue you. You're now embarrassed and slink away

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🎍 Action Select 🎍

🌲 > Attempt to recover from social nightmare. You need a minute,,,,

🌠 - Attempt to recover from social nightmare

Today has really, really not gone the way you would have liked it to. You've had such an upsetting experience that you feel sort of out of it... First the signs and then the falling and then the... oh dear. You don't even want to think about it. You simply don't want to think about any of this. All you wanted to do was hide away until it was all over! A mess, you creep up to the back of a different building and collapse there to ponder your woes. A passing Snakekey catches sight of you and offers their condolences. Initially, you're very adamant that you'd like to be left alone, but it turns out that this keke runs a local café. They've invited you over for something on the house in order to help you feel better. Nobody else will be there since everybody's all busy dealing with the whole sign-issue. This is so sweet that it restores your faith in the universe for a while

They make you whatever you like on the menu and you promptly take an accidental sunbeam nap afterwards

TL;DR: You're very upset and hide behind a building. A keke who owns a café feels bad for you and invites you over for a free treat

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🌲 Conclusion 🌲

🍂 Conclusion (7) 🍂
Coming back towards town, didn't see shards

You creep towards the main part of town, skeptical of the weird sounds you've been hearing during your approach. There's a lot of commotion, but you can't really see or hear why or what or any of those important details. Now that you're nearing line of sight with the hubbub, you can see there's a whole bunch of keke congregated around the center of town. A lot of them look confused. Suddenly, here's a deep, rumbling sound that seems like...it's really close, to be honest. Some of the Snakekeys towards the head of the group gasp and try to back up, bumping into others. Between them, you see a huge crack forming in the packed dirt. You only get a second to look before skeletal claws burst forth in a spray of grit. The great keke skeleton is suddenly heaving itself up, pouring from the ground faster than you can process per. Per brandishes per fangs, jaws open wide as they can go and seemingly only milliseconds from reaching out and snapping someone up in them

Just moments before something really bad happens, there's a blinding flash of light. You recoil, but still catch a glimpse of what looks like a white, glowing tear in... well, nothing form over the skull poised to attack. Per realizes this is happening and snaps defensively to the ground, but there's no point in it. Hundreds of orange, glittering shards have already begun to pour from the tear, hovering in space as if they had wings. They assemble themselves into a single form as fast as they can flow from the portal, forming the shape of an anatomically correct heart. The skeleton seems to try to disrupt the workflow, but in only a few seconds, it's already too late. There's another blare of light, this one so bright you have no choice but to look away

When you're able to return your gaze to the drama at hand, you see no giant skeleton, no white rift, and no abundance of signs. In place of the bones, a very large keke is sprawled out with a look of mild bafflement on per face. Planted firmly in per chest is the amber heart, whole and at home. As you stare on, per raises a claw to trace the outline of the stone as if they can't quite believe it's there. Per lingers like so for a moment, taking in reality, before lifting per head to survey the crowd of onlookers. Per looks... lost. But there's no time for that. A lot of things have happened to a lot of people over the last few hours and several are quick to begin demanding answers. Thankfully, it seems like they'll finally get some

The not-skeleton-anymore explains that per name is Kai'in and that per's something called a 'Legacy'. When asked what the heck that's supposed to mean, per can't fully come up with an answer - per can't really remember. It's apparently something special, though. Like special-special. Per remembers... something happening that knocked per heart out and sent per on this wild goose chase of a quest to curse every Snakekey out there. What caused it is too blurry to recall. At the mention of curses, there's a general discontent murmuring from the crowd. Kai'in insists that if any of that stuff actually worked, it should have gone away when per heart was returned

And with that, there's not much more that per can explain... The large keke winds off to lay confusedly behind a building after general interest in per has begun to fade. It's probably best to leave per to sort out per memories for now. Maybe per'll remember something else of use after some hours of quiet

∗∗∗

A week passes after everything that was happening in Flewcoop stopped happening. Kai'in has taken up a wandering in the woods, keeping up a patrol for seemingly no reason other than per feels like per should. Other than that, things seem eerily peaceful. It's an abrupt stop the the action. It feels almost...wrong

The universe seems to agree. On the eighth day since the sign incident, a large, strange creature is spotted in the sky. It floats around with full confidence, a smirk plastered on its long face. Initially, it's very, very high up, but it spirals downwards in slow, lazy circles. It takes it hours to reach the ground, giving plenty of time for news of its arrival to spread. Like many others, you come out to see what this animal is. It's unlike anything you've seen or even heard of before. On top of that, it's wrapped in tack like it had a rider at some point. Someone notices there's a roll of paper tucked in the thing's thick collar. People are hesitant to approach, but communicating via pouch with the thing reveals no ill intent. So, someone gets up the nerve to step forward and pluck the paper up, unroll it, and read it aloud. It says:

"Fellow Snakekeys,

If you're reading this note, our Spacer has managed to reach you. We've been attempting to contact you for many years, but there's a peculiar obstruction we've been unable to get by. We are delighted to finally reestablish connection. Please send a return letter with the Spacer so we can confirm your presence. We have provided the required gear if a couple of you would like to ride with the Spacer on its return trip, but note that it will take some time and space temperatures are quite cold. We hope to exchange words of higher value with you very soon.

Sincerely your relatives on Xavier"

This is a baffling message to receive. Other Snakekeys? On Xavier? Xavier is a whole other planet! But how could this be a hoax? The creature that brought the message, the Spacer, is totally unheard of. It had to have either just appeared today or come from somewhere else. And the only way that someone from outside the valley could get in would be... some sort of hole in the Valley Effect 

TL;DR: You find yourself back in Flewcoop. The skeleton bursts from the ground, but a portal opens overhead. Many orange shards come out, shaping into an anatomically correct heart. This returns the skeleton, named Kai'in, to flesh and blood. Per's something called a 'Legacy', but doesn't remember much else

*** TL;DR: A little over a week later, an unfamiliar creature comes from the sky bearing a message from Snakekeys that claim to be on another planet. They've been attempting to contact Susie, but have been unable. The fact that they've made it through means there's likely a hole in the Valley Effect 

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🏅 Event Rewards 🏅

✨ Event Rewards ✨

🍰 You earn one of the below upgrades per keke entered in a prompt
🍰 These upgrades should not be applied on hatchling applications

🍦 1: > Glow spot: A single marking on the face that has a tendency to light up! Can be made up of 1 or 2 colors. Can glow at will or at random
🍦 2: > Sunny aura:Dude, you've got god rays coming off you. Sick! Bright sun beams that usually focus in areas such as the paws, behind the head, at the tail tip, or on the wrist joints of wings. Pick only one or two spots, though, as this shouldn't turn a keke into a living flashlight. Rays can be any color
🍦 3: > Floater fluff: Medium-length fluff that covers the belly (which includes belly scales if they're there). This fluff gives a keke the special ability to slither on air! Does not change colors

🍦 1: > Goop slash: One or more slash-shaped "cuts" in the skin that ooze a strange goo. Goop can be any color and may be scented
🍦 2: > Leafy dragon scales: You don't need any of this "skin" or "smooth scale" nonsense. Now, you're covered in jagged, leaf-like scales that totally make you look like some ancient nature guardian or something. Can either be the base color or tinged any color leaves can be
🍦 3: > Spine spikes: You almost got scared out of your skin, but not quite. Simple spikes that appear to jut out one per vertebrae. Can reach from the top of the neck to the tail tip. Spikes must be centered. Can be any color or size

🍦 1: > Bioluminescence: You start to glow in the dark, but only just. You can see it in the dark and it's bright, but it doesn't put off any sort of haze around it. Think like cheap glow-in-the-dark ceiling stars. Can effect any part of the body as well as multiple parts, but must be the whole part. For example, if cheek pouches glow, it should be the whole cheek pouch not just a portion.
🍦 2: > Shining strands: Some hairs start to glow! While this usually effects individual hairs, it can glow-ify the whole lot. Glow may be any color. Note it shouldn't really take on any shape that hair wouldn't make naturally
🍦 3: > Chains: Add metal cuffs to the wrists and/or the tail tip. Must have a minimum of one chain link coming off each cuff. Chains shouldn't be longer than a foot in total. Both cuffs and chains can be any color

🍦 1: > Somatic markings: Abnormal and often strange looking black patches on the design. Can effect any part of a keke (belly scales, base, eyes, mouth, etc...)
🍦 2: > Paradox face: The face is split down the middle color-wise. One side will be the base color, the other can be any color you like! May or may not cover the ear as well. Cheek pouches, mouth, and eyes will be unaffected
🍦 3: > Runic muteness: The keke is born with a specific rune somewhere on their body that disallows them from speaking. Rune can be any color

🍦 1: > Notch scars: Something really took a chunk out of you...! A more intense scarring that can cause a visible indent in the skin. Can be used to make nicks in thinner membranes like ears or wings
🍦 2: > Feather wings: Large, feathery wings that enable flight
🍦 3: > Point wings: Large wings with jagged outlines that enable flight. While they can have ridges, these wings do not have fingers

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🍖Node Rewards 🍖

🍧 These upgrades must be unlocked by completing a prompt that contains the corresponding node at least once!
🍧 Once you've unlocked a node with at least one character, you can apply the upgrades you've earned to any of your keke/PCs
🍧 You earn one node upgrade per prompt you complete with a node in it (alongside the regular reward you would earn above)
🍧 You can chose to exchange your regular upgrades earned above for node upgrades if desired (as many or as few as you like - it's not all or none)
🍧 These upgrades should not be applied on hatchling applications

👻 1: > Spooky vapor: Parts of the keke leave this plane and drift away like mist. This won't damage the keke or remove pieces of them. Whatever they lose restores immediately
👻 2: > Transparency: Complete or partial transparency. This has may uses and can make see-through patches in the skin, lower a Snakekey's opacity, show their skeletal structure/insides, and all sorts of fun stuff
👻 3: > Soul window: A circular pane of glass like a Sugar Baby's. Shows a glowing image inside rumored to reflect one's soul. A Snakekey can have a max of 2 windows and both should match. Inside the window is only a vague color - you should not see a keke's insides through it. Soul can look like anything (an eye, flames, a glowing dot, etc...)

💚1: > Heat shimmer: The keke's image warps as if you're looking at something very hot. This is a slight change, not too drastic
💚 2: > Extra inch: Your keke constantly floats a couple inches off the ground. Impressive!
💚 3: > Void shards: Bits of hardened shadow that look similar to crystals. These can form anywhere on the body in any amount or float around a keke. They're usually pitch black, but can come in a lighter shade and may be tinted a color

💎 1: > Sugar antlers: Blocky antlers seemingly made from sugar crystals. They bear resemblance to rock candy and thankfully won't melt away in case of water, heat, etc... One pair of antlers only
💎 2: > Halo: A floating patch of light most commonly seen in a circle formation, but can come in other shapes. Can glow and be any color or amount.
💎 3: > Crystallization: Gems have started to grow on your keke! These can be any color and go anywhere in any amount. They are not mobile and should not be used to create things such as additional limbs unless upgraded otherwise

📈 1: > Spotlight: When your keke touches something, such as their tail on the ground, a small halo of light forms beneath them. This fades away when they're no longer in contact with the thing. Can be any color and opacity
📈 2: > Restless shadow: Did you just see your shadow blink? Strangely enough, it's begun to behave as if it has a mind of its own. It can even appear as some other creature or detach from you. We'll assume it'll come back eventually...
📈 3: > Blinkers: here appear to be small lights glowing softly under your skin. Lights don't have to all be connected, but should all be in the same area. May be any color. Can go anywhere on the back side of a keke (top of the head, shoulders, tail tip, etc). Must either be a pair or a single formation. Maybe these will grow into something one day

💀 1: > Protruding skull: Bits of or a whole skull attached to the face. Does not necessarily have the be anatomically correct. Can go over or replace the skin. Must not have extensions such as horns unless upgrades have been earned and applied.
💀 2: > Outside ribs: Rib-shaped, bony protrusions that usually occur on the torso and naga tail, but can appear anywhere they can semi-circle around. Can have any amount, vary in thickness, and be any color
💀 3: > Skeletal: Bones go on the inside, but you're a rebel. Bony formations that commonly resemble an (almost) whole Snakekey skeleton or parts of one, but don't have to. For some reason, this upgrade doesn't form ribs or skulls. Exception: skulls can form on the body, but not on anywhere on the head. Bones can be any color

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🎂 Completion Rewards🎂

🍨 Completion rewards are earned by completing an entire story branch! (Reaching a 🍂 Conclusion 🍂 post)
🍨 Completion rewards are earned in addition to any other rewards you've earned

🏵️ Every keke/PC that reaches a conclusion earns one Vendari Spacer
🏵️ Vendari Spacers are special mounts that allow for space travel (when this feature is implemented - hang on for now!)
🏵️ Spacers have a white base color that should show on at least 20% of them, but can otherwise be any color

🏵️ You earn five eggs/infants of your choice. One of these may be a behemoth egg
🏵️ You earn five of any upgrade you like, including ascended, clutch, etc...
🏵️ You earn two of any available pet/mount you like