OBSERVER_EXE

Yomi has always been a quiet settlement, even as changes rolled through the village by Cardinal’s undecided whims. This year was no different, then, as chaos swept through the floors outside of the underground’s reach. But the whirl did steal rocky terrain away from one young kid as they raced through the dark, almost aimlessly, with bangs almost too long and eyes squinted too small to peer through the night. With one misstep, they fell, tumbling through the air a shooting star of purple and blue and brown.

“Oh, there you are!”

That voice pierced through the silence, echoing, a chipper noise that called the kid to action. From a vulnerable roll, they stretched their arms outwards, pointing their figure towards the ground they were about to strike. Hands out in a sharp point. There was no hesitation nor fear written on the kid’s expression, were one to look past their messy and scattered bangs. It was almost apathetic, to any stranger that looked towards them for only a glance, but the corners of their lips pulled through at the last second—

— and with their dive, they sent a flurry of golden leaves to rise up, weaving through ether where they had once been.

“That was a nice one!”

Lost in the pile of gold, there was only an indent where the child had fallen into their landing support. A second later, it caved in, the collection underneath it rustling, and a few feet away a familiar face popped out of the spring mess.

Their eyes — blue fading to brown — barely made contact with the other figure sitting atop a nearby rock. The second almost looked like a twin to their skilled counterpart; the same shaggy brown hair, the same height too had someone stood them side by side. But what differed were select details, like their skin, the former was a flush yellow to the other’s pasty white. Or their eyes, when you could see past either of their fringes; sparkling cools that mixed in indecision juxtaposed a dull crimson that burned bloodshot red at moments. And striped sweaters both, but the latter was in greens and yellows. His dark shorts to their black pants. Both their boots were equal, the same. 

Without words, they both knew to long for the season to come.

One toss, and the boy landed to the floor, bent knees in stabilization while an idle hand toyed with a knife with recklessness. He looked to his subordinate, grinning, pushing his hair to one side with his fingers.

“Well, don’t you think it’s time we head back? The others must be getting worried about us by now.”

The kid almost seemed to be dozing off, after a moment without their response. But when a leaf finally landed on the top of their head, they nodded, adding the gift from above back onto the pile below.

“Wonderful! Then let us set off without complaint.”

Yomi has always been a quiet settlement, even as changes rolled through the village by Cardinal’s undecided whims. This year was no different, then, as chaos swept through the floors outside of the underground’s reach. But the whirl did steal rocky terrain away from one young kid as they raced through the dark, almost aimlessly, with bangs almost too long and eyes squinted too small to peer through the night. With one misstep, they fell, tumbling through the air a shooting star of purple and blue and brown.

“Oh, there you are!”

That voice pierced through the silence, echoing, a chipper noise that called the kid to action. From a vulnerable roll, they stretched their arms outwards, pointing their figure towards the ground they were about to strike. Hands out in a sharp point. There was no hesitation nor fear written on the kid’s expression, were one to look past their messy and scattered bangs. It was almost apathetic, to any stranger that looked towards them for only a glance, but the corners of their lips pulled through at the last second—

— and with their dive, they sent a flurry of golden leaves to rise up, weaving through ether where they had once been.

“That was a nice one!”

Lost in the pile of gold, there was only an indent where the child had fallen into their landing support. A second later, it caved in, the collection underneath it rustling, and a few feet away a familiar face popped out of the spring mess.

Their eyes — blue fading to brown — barely made contact with the other figure sitting atop a nearby rock. The second almost looked like a twin to their skilled counterpart; the same shaggy brown hair, the same height too had someone stood them side by side. But what differed were select details, like their skin, the former was a flush yellow to the other’s pasty white. Or their eyes, when you could see past either of their fringes; sparkling cools that mixed in indecision juxtaposed a dull crimson that burned bloodshot red at moments. And striped sweaters both, but the latter was in greens and yellows. His dark shorts to their black pants. Both their boots were equal, the same. 

Without words, they both knew to long for the season to come.

One toss, and the boy landed to the floor, bent knees in stabilization while an idle hand toyed with a knife with recklessness. He looked to his subordinate, grinning, pushing his hair to one side with his fingers.

“Well, don’t you think it’s time we head back? The others must be getting worried about us by now.”

The kid almost seemed to be dozing off, after a moment without their response. But when a leaf finally landed on the top of their head, they nodded, adding the gift from above back onto the pile below.

“Wonderful! Then let us set off without complaint.”

He’s the first one to greet players the moment he spots them looking his way. “Hey!” He’d often shout to them with a big smile and a wave. “Interested in helping a new friend out?”

Should one approach him, the boy would gesture with his empty hand to his companion, most likely dozing off under the shade of the crimson blossom. “Thank you! As you can see, I’m watching over my partner at the moment, and I’m not in the best shape to leave them alone.”

“My name’s Oni,” he’d begin, hand on his chest before matching his index to the tip of his knife. Sheepish. “I’m looking for a particular someone, and you might find him on your travels if you’re heading out of town. He’s short, sort of like us. Wears a hoodie of some sort -- it was blue the last time we saw him, but pretty sure he’s got lots more. And… let’s see...”

Pointer and thumb gesture to Oni’s own eyes. “Blue pupils; they look hollow and they glow in the dark. And… Oh! They’re also a skeleton, if you can believe that.” The boy chuckles, already expecting players to not believe him when he discloses this intel, but recovers quickly enough before any of them leave. “Would you mind giving him a good few blows? Tell him an old friend sent you. I’ll have you know though, he’s quite the evasive fellow. It might be a good workout if you’re into that. And-- oh, don’t worry about that guy getting bruised.” 

“He’s gotten very, very sturdy over the years, after all.”

“If it helps,” Oni adds, hands tucked behind his back whenever players appear hesitant about assaulting a random stranger, “I’ll make it worth your time. Some candy afterwards to take the edge off. That sounds nice for the season, doesn’t it?”

Players should keep track of their successful tags against that guy when performing the activity. Their total accumulated tags will earn them the following rewards:

See the section below about that guy for more information about tags.

Kuni doesn’t talk very much. It seems as though they are resting, most of the time, a tiny pumpkin bucket fitting of Halloween resting on their lap or right by their side. Whenever they rise to their feet in activity, they dart around the village in view of where their partner can see. And during those times, it is clear to onlookers that Kuni is picking up… seeds?

Where did these come from?

Oni is quick to speak up the moment he catches players staring as Kuni scavenges. “Oh, the seeds? They’re a good snack sometimes. Kuni likes them a lot. We help mom roast them and we hunker down with a good movie and finish a whole bowl.” The boy smiles watching his companion scurry about. “You should try it sometime, with the people you care about.”

He then turns to Kuni’s audience with an extended empty hand. “If you find any seeds on your travels, you should hand them over to us -- granted, assuming you don’t have any use for them, of course.” 
When Kuni comes running back, the kid deposits his findings into the pumpkin bowl, before fishing into his pockets and pulling out a comically large leather wrap. With one unfurl, they display a variety of goodies, set across the grass. Grabbing the bowl’s handle, they set their seed collection beside them and make a grabbing motion outwards.

Oni laughs, and Kuni withdraws his hand afterwards, but the message had then been made clear to the player base.

Players should keep track of threads closed during this event period. For each batch of 300 words written, all players present in the thread would find 1 seed each. For players who do not meet the 3-posts-to-1-page requirement, they would find a fraction of the seeds expected, matching their EXP ratio (rounded up).

Seeds gathered are untradable between other players. Please keep track of your seeds in your own posts within this thread.

Players can trade their seeds in for the following rewards:

 ever since the hunt began, players have remained ever vigil for the skeleton in question, and have always managed to spot him -- a little too often, surprisingly enough. the lazy bones has always been sleeping or idling nearby, watching the adventurers on their journey one way or another. some have even reported making conversation with the skeleton, even cracking jokes with him. 

(and what was his name again? some type of font or another… or not?) 

but the description their hunter had provided didn’t match up completely -- skelly’s eyes in particular -- until one of them takes a quick swing the stranger’s way. that’s when things start to change.

true to reports, he’s hard to hit. and he always laments about his day when players try to strike him -- “* man, i came out here to have a good time and honestly i’m feeling so attacked right now.” and the skeleton’s eyes flash a cold winter’s blue as he finds ways to strike back using the environment; all non-damaging, just to throw his assailants off his tracks. “* a guy can’t even hang around now without getting assaulted, huh? how times have changed.”

then, he vanishes without a trace, suddenly. often disappearing behind a tree or pillar, without even a sound effect to indicate his abrupt leave.

but the ones that do land blows against him find something in their inventory afterwards.

* players can encounter that guy at the end of every thread closed during this event period (aka. req. 20 posts made before this encounter). each player will then each receive 3 chances to tag that guy, which means making a natural cd roll 3 times in one post. for every roll that achieves a cd9+, that player scores one tag.

* players will receive the following rewards based on how many times they have managed to tag that guy in a singular thread: 

* tags are considered individually & per thread. 
* the 5% EXP stacks for the whole party. final exp calculation should be (thread exp + 15% + [5 * players who have made a successful tag]%).
* remember, you should track your successful tags for a chance at unlock rewards (see "oni's skeleton hunt" section).