seasonshelpers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
seasonshelpers) wrote2026-03-01 11:40 am
seasonshelpers) wrote2026-03-01 11:40 am
event draft for @seasonsgreetings
Fourth Wall: The Second One
LOGS | NETWORK | OOC | MEMES | NAVIGATION
SUMMARY
• A mysterious portal dimension, x444y444, has been found and dubbed "Nega-Ellipsa"
• Signs of strange activity have been reported
• The Research Centre is looking for volunteers to investigate it
On March 13th,***(LINK TO MAIN COMM PORTION)*** a call is sent out from the Research Centre, specifically the department that's been researching portal dimensions.
The dimension at coordinates x444, y444 has been dubbed Nega-Ellipsa, a weird copy of Ellipsa, and portals have appeared inside that those coming in from Ellipsa (including otherworlders) can't go through. They're sent to investigate.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, people start seeing brief images of people and places in the dimension. Is that your friend from home?
SUMMARY
• Nega-Ellipsa can be explored and looks strange yet similar to the real one
• The portals inside are bringing people from other worlds (fourth wall guests); they can't go into Ellipsa and the player characters can't go into their worlds
• Nega-Ellipsa also has its own network
Everyone coming into Nega-Ellipsa will notice that the name seems perfectly apt. The portal from the Research Centre leads straight into the exact same room, but upside down, with all the furniture apparently bolted to the ceiling. The front door leads out into the streets of Nightwake, but everything looks just a little off... or a lot off. Like how the Research Centre is upside down. Or the police station is replaced by something that resembles a flower yard, but with no flowers blooming. Or the Mecha Hangar is clipping into the Starter Apartments like some kind of model glitch in a game. And strangest of all, there seems to be nobody living here.
The other districts, as well as the Segments outside the city, also look mostly like their real counterparts but with some changes. Blue cherry blossoms, lake water that tastes like ramune, places just slightly off to the side or even upside down or backwards. The four flower yards outside the city are similarly empty of flowers if someone looks through the locked gates. And character homes might be changed, moved, or even combined with each other.
If the oddness feels similar to the last fourth wall, that isn't the only thing. Characters who enter Nega-Ellipsa will temporarily have full access to all their powers. This means all regular, animal shifting, and dragon-blessed powers for their season, whether or not they have learned these skills and/or performed the dragon ritual. It also includes any canon and/or CRAU powers that they normally do not have (aside from any that would break the game such as transporting between worlds).
On the flip side, this is Nega-Ellipsa, so sometimes the powers may misbehave and do the opposite of what they're supposed to. Can't have everything.
Any reward items from Riki's Rewards or the Shady Shop can also be obtained at no cost in Nega-Ellipsa. (Or their Nega-Ellipsa counterparts, "Riku's Rewards" and "Better? Stronger? Free!" at least, but the insides are the same.) Unfortunately, these items can't be taken through the portal back to Ellipsa and will just disappear and respawn back in the shop if someone tries.
The airship stations are also all still operating in Nega-Ellipsa, but without any staff. Hope you can fly one.
The portals the Research Centre mentioned are cropping up all over Nega-Ellipsa. There seems to be no limit to where they will spawn, either in the city or Segments. Each is big enough to let a person through, but anyone who came through Ellipsa (that is, in-game characters) can't go through. Even if what they see on the other side is their own world, or one they've been to before.
The biggest surprise is when other people appear from these portals. They can return through their portal at any time, but cannot go through the portal in the Research Centre to go back to Ellipsa. When they come through the portal from their world, a mark will appear somewhere on their body, and a matching one will appear on top of the portal they came from. The symbol is somewhat related to the character who has it and their world.
These guests have also been assigned a season (Winter, Spring, Summer, or Autumn) and also have full access to powers from that season. See regular, animal shifting, and dragon-blessed powers.
And hey, they each get a new phone with a flower charm, just like every other otherworlder! How thoughtful.
The network infrastructure still exists in Nega-Ellipsa, and characters will still have their own accounts or be able to make one. Any network posts made inside this dimension can be made here.***(LINK TO NETWORK POST)***
For some reason, the network display is yellow text on a dark purple background and looks like it was coded in 1998.
SUMMARY
• Nega-Ellipsa has the same monsters as Ellipsa, and Darkness has been creeping in from somewhere
• Dark energy is manifesting a new type of monster
• These monsters correspond to each portal and have to be defeated to keep Darkness from invading that portal and thus the world beyond it
• Defend visitors' portals and get them back home to their worlds safely
Nega-Ellipsa is also populated by many of the same monsters as the real Ellipsa (aside from the other sapient races, which, like humans, are oddly absent). None are in the city proper, but many are in their usual spots out in the Segments, while some may be displaced -- why is there a group of Roaming Candles playing in the Flaming Grassland when they usually live in the Winter Segment?
Any non-restricted monster can be encountered and fought in the Segments. It might even be a good opportunity to test out new abilities for visitors and existing otherworlders alike! Especially since season powers are more effective on many of the stronger ones.
But a more pressing concern is that, those who came in from Ellipsa may recall, many of those monsters were created by the Darkness 18 years ago. The strongest monsters even still have their Darkness auras that resist offworld magic. But that would mean the Darkness is at large in Nega-Ellipsa too -- and with all these portals open, the risk is far too high.
The Research Centre sends a warning through the Nega-Ellipsa network:
Darkness took a horrible toll on Ellipsa. It can't be allowed to migrate into other people's homeworlds.
Near each of these portals, a shadow creature can be fought: a new monster called a Marked Shade. A tall (2-3m) humanoid creature made of Darkness, with the only light on it being the mark on its forehead that matches that on one of the visitors and their portal, in the colour of their season (blue for Winter, pink for Spring, green for Summer, orange for Autumn). Marked Shades have claws, fangs, and spines, and are resistant to everything but season magic.
Defeating a Marked Shade will cause the corresponding portal to glow white. Darkness and Darkness-affected monsters will no longer be able to get near it.
Once the Marked Shades have been neutralized, visitors' worlds will be safe from the threat of Darkness invading. However, they still can't migrate into Ellipsa proper, and the Research Centre workers tell everyone that once they return to their worlds, the portals will close behind them.
Nega-Ellipsa will be closed and kept under the control of the Research Centre for further study to find out how the Darkness got there and how the portals came to be. But before then, the otherworlders of Ellipsa and the new arrivals will be given time to say their goodbyes and hope to meet again someday.
• Ask event-related questions here!***LINK TO OOC PLOTTING POST*** Read the 4th wall FAQ before asking.
• You don't need to comment on the plotting post to participate & anyone can participate in the 4th wall (there's no separate invitation needed). However, if you wish to app in later, you need an invite if you're not a friend of the mods.
• This post is open to tag and toplevel by everyone! Those arriving for the 4th wall can write 4TH WALL or VISITOR on their post and/or link their top level here!
• Check the Opt-in top-level if you're considering bringing in a character that already exists in the game.
• Smut is not allowed on the event post, so if your thread is heading that way, please move it to a separate entry (like to your musebox or characters' journal).
• Remember to content and spoiler warn as necessary!
• Reminder to players in the game that this month is Activity Check-in month and check-in ends on March 31th, at 23:59 PST.
• The event will run from March 13th to March 31st.
• You don't need to comment on the plotting post to participate & anyone can participate in the 4th wall (there's no separate invitation needed). However, if you wish to app in later, you need an invite if you're not a friend of the mods.
• This post is open to tag and toplevel by everyone! Those arriving for the 4th wall can write 4TH WALL or VISITOR on their post and/or link their toplevel here!***(LINK TO TOPLEVEL GATHERING COMMENT)***
• Check the Opt-in toplevel if you're considering bringing in a character who already exists in the game.
• Smut is not allowed on the event post, so if your thread is heading that way, please move it to a separate entry (like to your musebox or character's journal).
• Remember to content and spoiler warn as necessary!
• Reminder that this month is Activity Check-in month and check-in ends on March 31st at 23:59 PST.