When you awaken, you're in the last outfit you remember wearing, up to three of your belongings laid nearby or your animal friend curled up by you, waking with you. It's not the most comfortable place to sleep, a stone slab, but once you're awake, a humanoid-looking robot comes in to greet you. They explain that you are now in the world of Aellyn, specifically a city called Havenwell, and then lead you out of the room and into the main portion of the temple where a welcoming committee of similarly humanoid-looking robots hand over a clear smartphone-sized tablet, some starting funds, and explain their dilemma. Once you understand your situation, they release you into Havenwell to choose your new home from the free housing in the city and give you the chance to settle. It might be a bit disorienting, but thankfully there seem to be a lot of robots and even some non-robots around. Maybe ask them for help?

As the situation within the city changes month to month, it might be hard to be a new arrival to Havenwell. The natives understand! Sort of. When some new arrivals begin to appear at the temples, receive the welcome speech, get their communicators and the simple map of the city, they get taken to the front of the temple by a helpful robotic priest. Rather than turn the newcomers loose right away, they pull someone seemingly at random off the street and push the two people together with a cheerful, "Here's your guide to Havenwell! It's dangerous to go alone, so be buddies!" before going back inside.

They try to place a new arrival with one of those who previously arrived, but who can keep track of all that, right? Characters may find themselves thrown together with an actual veteran or with another new arrival who only came here a day or even just an hour before them! Good luck helping each other out, offworlders, and don't lose your buddy!

After you're given an explanation of your situation, as well as your communication device, the priests are busy or shorthanded enough that there is little further guidance offered. Instead you are set loose to explore the city on your own, to take in the sights or find your own lodgings. The city is yours to discover! Go forth, and enjoy!

However, newcomers and current residents should beware: sometimes new arrivals are… sticky. Not noticeably so, of course, and they find no trouble moving place to place, but should they brush up against another person, or shake hands, or collide in any way- they will find themselves… stuck. Magically, inexplicably. The hold is not painful unless they pull too hard, but no amount of tugging will release them. However, should the initial point of contact be too awkward, switching areas can release another. Characters attached at the hip can swap for handholding, glued chests can trade to shoulder-to-shoulder. They have to figure that out first, of course, but it may ease some awkwardness out of the encounter.

The duration of this effect varies and can last up to half an hour before characters are released for good. There is a cooldown period in the aftermath, a few minutes perhaps, but further contact will repeat the process all over again. Best to duck and run once you're free, unless you're into that sort of thing.

Havenwell's weather is generally so well controlled, with beautiful blue skies and temperate climes that it's hard to remember that there's a whole world out there that might not be so nice. Every so often, however, the controls break and something not so nice and temperate comes through. Pockets of unpleasant weather happens all over the city at random intervals and new arrivals might find themselves and others caught without warning. Is that a snowstorm with green snow? Sure is. A windstorm that only seems to affect three streets? Yup. Did a deluge of rain just pour the equivalent of an Olympic sized swimming pool of water on you? Uh-huh sure did. A deep cold fog that suddenly rolls in and blankets your entire area? Yeeaaah....hopefully there's someone around to help you get about and find shelter or just dry off and get away from it all. Good luck, offworlder.

Now that you've arrived in Havenwell and are getting to know your area, the city's council has an ongoing method of helping you get to know your new home. Isn't that fun? This game is one best played with others as some of the challenges can be difficult for those just arriving in the world of Aellyn: a most glorious scavenger hunt! As you leave the temple, the priests explain to you how to use the communication devices and point you toward the Scavenger Hunt's network page which is appropriately over-excited to see you here in Havenwell. The page lists several randomized clues to items and places within the city for you to explore and collect. Find a buddy, complete the list, and turn in your items to your temple priest in order to win a fabulous and mysterious prize. Clues to your items include, but are not limited to:

Take a picture with your buddy in front of where the offworlders saved our city. We would not be alive without you!

These temporary and delectable trees are hard to find hidden among their brethren, but in their branches edible gold awaits you! Bring one of these fruits to your priest.

Eight arms outstretched to protect our home, take a picture with you and a friend emulating their poses.

A magical helmet only the offworlders can use. Put it on and find yourself somewhere completely new! Bring the receipt of a game played to complete this item.

In these lofty towers, we learn about our world and yours. Pick up a memento from their gift stores!

Though they fly in the sky, they drop not feathers but scales. Take a picture with one to complete this quest!

Small but mighty, don't underestimate their strength in numbers. And they do have the greatest numbers. Take a picture with five or more of these cute little creatures to complete this quest!

Their piercing blue gaze can see the purity of your heart and their wings can help you reach the heights you deserve. Take a picture with one of these in order to complete this quest!

Languid though they may seem, these cunning beasts can become mighty hunters in an instant. But they seem rather weak to things that swish. Take a picture with two or more of these animals in order to complete this quest!

Feel free to make up your own zany prompts if you like. If you're stumped on the answers and want to know, check below. But more importantly, that mysterious prize the council teased.....?

It's a metal keychain of your god's patron animal! How cute! Isn't that just what you wanted after all that work?

(Click here for Hunt Answers)

Go to the slightly off-colored section of the city wall toward the south where the breach from the October event happened.

In the conservatory's botanical garden are hidden plastic trees with gold-foiled covered chocolate coins hanging from them like fruit. Take one and turn it in to the temple priests.

Pose in front of the the main town square's statue fountain that depicts the four gods of Havenwell.

Go to any of the city's the VR cafes in the Entertainment Districts and play a game with a friend. They'll send an electronic receipt to your communicator to prove you participated. Find more information about the VR offerings here.

The city's multiple science towers will have a small gift store on the bottom floors selling many different kinds of nerdy goods from metal pens to pocket protectors to rulers and magnifying glasses and more. Buy something small and show it to the priests.

Go to Rawna's temple and take a picture with a dragonling.

Go to Ainea's temple and take a picture with five or more mice.

Go to Diacht's temple and take a picture with a white and red crow.

Go to Ohma's temple and take a picture with two or more of the cats. It cannot be the cats from Affurgato!

Through the efforts of the locals and the offworlders, the Factory machinery is back up and running, and the locals are thoroughly charmed by just how old it all is. As in, super old. They had stopped using this smelting and refining technology centuries ago for a very important reason: most of the machinery requires touch between two or more participants in order to work. This unique method of operation will require some tutoring to get used to, however, so anyone interested in learning must sign up with the de facto owners of the Factory in order to learn. It isn't easy to be both the power source AND the operator, but with enough practice, they're sure you can learn to master this age-old technique!

There are two types of classes running for those interested: Forging Basics, where you learn how to power and heat the forge to melt and create simple metal objects at first like spoons and rods, and Smelting Basics, where you learn how to power and smelt common ore like copper and iron into useable metals for the forge. For the Forge Classes, characters will need to stay in contact with each other to power the heat in the forge - which is a strange rainbow-colored fire. The longer they're in contact with one another, the longer the fire will stay lit, and the hotter the flame will get. Characters should keep one hand on the handles outside the forge, and their other hand on each other. For example, 15 minutes of contact in this method would translate to 30 minutes of continuous forge power. The characters can adjust the flame intensity by squeezing the handles in unison, a lighter touch will lower the intensity and a harder touch will increase it. Learning to get this touch and the timing down for the correct forging of metals is one of the hardest parts of the lessons and what the classes will primarily focus on. For the Smelting Classes, characters will need to learn how to power the smelting machinery through a method similar to the Forging Classes - one hand on each other and the other one the machinery handles. This time, however, the finesse and focus of the class is in learning how to use sensitive touch in unison to add the correct amounts of each ore and other materials to result in the purest form of metal ingot in the end. You will need a partner to sign up for either class, but partners can also be randomly assigned.

With the way the temperature and weather tends to fluctuate on occasion, it's no surprise that some are looking for new ways to refresh themselves and relax when things heat up, and what better time would there be to visit the Public Baths! It is technically free to use, as a public facility, but those visiting are encouraged to tithe a small donation once in a while to pay for upkeep and freshen up the place, provide new soaps, etc. No judgment if you can't! It'll just make everything that much nicer in the long run.

The baths are separated into a few sections: oil baths for the native residents, and water baths for the offworlders. For obvious reasons, offworlders are encouraged not to enter the robot-residential sections! Though they are not strictly forbidden... it would be quite messy and bad for your health.

The offworlder half has additional separated sections that may interest characters when they visit:

1) Hot Springs Style - Clothed or Unclothed: there are 3 available rooms for each, one for separate presented genders, and a shared bath for those comfortable with the concept or don't wish to use either male or female. Each room has one larger pool and a few smaller sets, so you can sit by yourself or with others as you please.

2) Pool: a shared public pool! The water is nice and cool, which should be a comfort to those still struggling with the lingering summer heat. There is some water game equipment available for open use if people want to play and get their sports on.

3) Sauna: similar to the springs, once again, there are 3 rooms for gender splits so everyone can enjoy the place at their own comfort level.

It all seems very nice and relaxing for everyone, but this wouldn't be a proper event without some shenanigans now, would it? There are a few effects that may occur within the baths, and these effects are somewhat random. Some characters may experience them to a powerful degree, while others feel nothing at all. Players can decide for themselves who and where these will affect, so feel free to mix, match, and go wild. The effects are:

• The spring water is so relaxing that you feel free and more willing to talk about yourself, or share your feelings more openly.


• The swimming pool is cool and energizing, making you want to horse around and play with others nearby. You may also feel inclined to drape yourself onto others, like a cool, comfy pillow.


• The sauna has you dishing up spicy hot takes, releasing negative emotions or complaints, and makes you a little more inclined to gossip.

All effects can either be nullified or emphasized according to player discretion by physical contact. For some characters, holding hands or something will stop the effects, but for others it'll intensify them - it should keep characters guessing!

At the suggestion of a few offworlders, the priests of Ohma's temple are offering written language lessons for the modern Aellyn script, if you feel so inclined to learn! It won't do you much good for spoken language, thanks to the god-given auto-translator, but plenty of linguists or those who love to learn might find it to be a useful and fun new skill to work on. You never know when it might come in handy! Do keep in mind that it takes an average of 500-700 hours of work to reach basic fluency of a new language, so if you're looking to master it, you'd better put in the work.

The Aellyn language is a geometric script, with letters and words composed of combined shapes and symbology. Basic words are simple enough to learn, especially once you get the base characters down pat, but longer or more difficult to define words lead to increasing complexity in the symbol arrangement. Some sentences can create entire pictures, and there's an entire sub-genre of art-and-poetry combination pieces in the cultural corners of the entertainment districts. (Slam poetry using digitized sound and facial display is really big these days.) Visitors are encouraged to challenge one another to cipher-recognition rounds in order to learn more efficiently.

At each temple along all the other celebrations and games, you can also find a separate booth that has a strange and unreadable Aellyn script on it. The robot sitting behind the booth has their face covered with a strip of fabric that obscures it completely, but it calls out to you when you walk by. It offers you an ancient-looking wooden container with a single small hole at the top. If you take it, it mimes shaking the container and tipping it over. Do as they say and a wooden stick pops out of the top with that same strange script on it. The robot takes a look at what you got and takes the container back, passing you a single strip of paper with reverence. "Keep your fortune close or learn to let it go," it says, and then looks to find another patron. Turn your paper over and discover what your fortune holds for you.

• Big Luck:
"The world shall become your limitless bounty, until you choose to rely on others." After reading your fortune, the world does indeed seem limitless. Or maybe it's just large? Everything around you has suddenly gained in size. The fortune-teller's booth seems like a mountain. The stones under your feet like a massive raft. Has the world suddenly grown? Nope, you've just shrunk down to about 5 to 6 inches tall. Everything you were holding and on your person is also proportional to your new size. Hopefully you can find someone to carry you around for a bit because only by being carried will you return to your natural size. As an option, this can happen to you again randomly at any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.

• Medium Luck:
"All that glitters is gold for you until another helps you out." After reading your fortune, nothing much seems to have overtly changed. And you probably won't notice anything until the next time you try to eat something. Any time your hands touch any food or anything that can be used to feed yourself, it explodes into glitter and your communicator rings as a deposit of Dora is made into your bank account. This seems pretty awesome at first, until you realize you can't eat anything and you're getting hungry. You may need to get someone else to feed you your next meal, after which the curse seems to have been broken. However, you have the option to have this effect happen again randomly at any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.

• Small Luck:
"The smallest things can bring the biggest rewards." After reading your fortune, nothing much seems to have changed until you return home and find all of your pillows, blankets, and bedding have turned much, much too small for you. If you're an adult, the bedding is now the size suitable for a baby. If you are a child, you're looking at something small enough for a large doll. Any bedding you try to borrow changes its size as well, and it seems the only thing that can change them back is to share your bed or a blanket with someone else for a night. When you wake up from your nap or your slumber, everything will be back to normal. As an option, you can have this effect happen again randomly any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.

• Bad Luck:
"The love of an animal is almost as strong as the love of your fellow people." After reading this fortune, all the temple animals turn and look at you in unison. They seem to be drawn toward you, literally, as they begin to converge and run toward you like a tidal hoard in an attempt to cuddle you. You best run or they threaten to bury you under their mass, and they'll keep chasing you until you find comfort in the arms of another - whether that's climbing on top of them to get away or jumping into their arms to avoid the tidal wave of mice - as soon as you cling to someone else, the animals seem to lose interest. You can optionally have this effect activate again at any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you, creating a new stampede of animals of any variety that try to love you just a liiiittle too much.

• Terrible Luck:
"Even bad luck can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." After reading this fortune, you don't immediately feel any different. In fact, nothing much seems to have changed at all. You decide to walk away from the booth though, and that's when it hits you - or rather you hit it. You're overcome with a clumsy streak the size of a meteor belt as you bump, trip, and fall into just about everything in your path be it inanimate or animate. If it's inanimate, hopefully you don't mind a few bruises. If they're another person, maybe they'll catch you because only by being caught by someone can you break your clumsy streak. As an option, you can have this effect come back at any time so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.

Seems that residents have caught wind of there being a particular fluffy holiday taking place in the second month of the year on certain worlds and have decided to adopt it for themselves as something of a test drive. The information that they've received about Valentine's Celebrations might be a little… iffy… or at the very least sporadic, but they're trying a few experiments to see if it'll help get people in the mood. The following changes can be discovered around town, with varying effects:

• Conversation hearts
Found in display bowls at the counter of local businesses, characters who eat these candies find their vision becoming rose-tinted. Quite literally. Colors aren't erased by it but there's a definite effect as if they are seeing the world through some kind of film filter, the shade of which can vary depending on the person. Maybe you see different colors! Maybe you see some bizarre kind of Snapchat filter. Maybe you see dialogue appearing in text bubbles now. The effect can be alleviated/cured (at player's discretion) by leaning against someone for an extended amount of time, which is convenient, because the sudden shift in visuals can make you feel a little dizzy.


• Roses
A few members of the community council are handing out flowers! These aren't naturally grown, of course, as with how delicate a process is it they don't want to jeopardize the botanical gardens by removing an excess of them. However, these are made out of synthetic silks but smell like real ones and have just as soft a feeling without any thorns! Isn't that nice of them?

When your character receives one, they're filled with the gentle, warm sensation of being in love but without falling hard. And they'll want to share it. People who share similar features to your CR, even if it's something subtle like hair color or a piece of clothing, will jump out as someone to share this flower with. This comes with the urge to express some unfortunately cheesy lines about the other person… and while they don't have to be romantic, even the most platonic of lame comments can get you in hot water. Hope the rose is worth it!


• Wines and Fruit Juices
What goes with cheesy compliments better than wine? These are found only in the temples, and with a priest always nearby to ensure no one is drinking the alcoholic drinks underage or becomes too inebriated to be safe. No matter how it looks or smells, these will taste just as your character likes and will always be the perfect temperature! Handy! But boy, after even a small glass, it sure does feel like cuddle weather, doesn't it? Don't worry though, it isn't anything that would make your character get too inappropriate or do anything outside their comfort zone. But boy, wouldn't it be nice to lay your head on someone for a bit?


• Chocolate truffles
Good morning! Every residence will wake up at least one day with a small box of chocolate truffles in a box at their doorstep. Some are plain, some decorated, and the decorations range from simple white chocolate drizzle to fancy elaborate planets or galaxy speckles. No matter what the flavor, there's an urge to share them with someone. That's all! Go and spread that chocolatey delight! It's extra-satisfying to feed it to them yourself, for some reason...

As the days of spring pass, the natives grow increasingly excited, and they are happy to explain why: years ago, before the world began to die, they celebrated a Festival of Flowers, to welcome the shift of winter to spring in their corner of the world. In previous years, the tradition lived on in a simpler form, with paper or synthetic flowers, but it isn't really the same without hair so interest waned.

A major part of the festival involves flower weaving, in many intricate patterns and arrangements, all of which have different meanings, like an arranged bouquet might. These flowers are sewn together into crowns, or woven directly into the recipient's hair, a delicate and rather intimate act done between friends, family, or lovers alike. Since the robots of town can't really benefit from this shared experience (of neither physical interaction or hair weaving), instead they happily pass along their knowledge of arrangements and techniques, floral symbolism. You can follow along with their directions, or just make something up/create something new, though certain unwitting combinations are bound to earn some curious (or amused) looks from the locals. For those of you who lack long hair for such acts, despair not! Crowns placed on short hair are just as socially welcome as the weavings, as you'll see from the robots wearing similar designs around town.

For this mini-event, ribbons are distributed and residents of Havenwell will wake to the sound of music floating over the city. During the night while people slept, the natives decorated the party area with streamers, brightly colored lanterns, and strings of beautiful lights that glow no matter the hour of the day. The natives have decorated themselves, too, and provide the offworlders with decorations to match if they attend. Garishly colored sashes, plumed hats, skirts and tunics, boas and fake flower leis - just about anything you can imagine, they're wearing. In and around the city square there are long tables of oddly colored finger foods - orange-colored grapes, bright pink meats, blue cheeses and the like are provided along with golden chocolates, fuchsia frosted cupcakes with pink cake underneath, and minty green cookies. The foods might look strange, but at least they mostly taste like they're supposed to.

All around the fountain depicting the four gods in the center of the square, music is playing and the natives are dancing in pairs, groups, and lines. Join them for a dance and they'll happily teach you the local customs, or break out your own moves and share your world's best moves to earn some applause and awkward attempts at recreating them.

The big game of the night is shared by the natives and it's announced halfway through the party. It is a contest to try and collect a set of four ribbons - one from each different god's temple. The rules are simple:
If you successfully manage to get all four ribbons, a little shower of confetti will burst from your ribbons and a nice little chunk of Dora will be transferred to your account. This can only work once unfortunately, but it's a nice little bonus for your first month in Havenwell! The party continues late into the night and the natives are happy to keep the party going as long as any of the offworlders wish to keep dancing.

Ohma's temple is particularly lively during Ohnir and the priests are busy cleaning and sweeping, decorating it with rolls of parchment and digital inkwells and quills that write as if they were actually fountain pens. The natives, especially adherents of Ohma, start to make pilgrimages to the temple in little processions, some playing music, others flying banners.

Anyone who chooses to follow can observe the natives going up to the altar and sharing stories with one another. They talk about things they did over the past year or things that are far, far in their past. Some of the stories are happy and result in the procession laughing and some are...well, not everyone came back from the lightning storms. The priests diligently write every story down on those parchment rolls and deposit them onto the waiting altar, where they're summarily lit on fire to the cheers of those present. The more emotional the story it seems, the brighter and bluer the flame that it emits, and the louder the procession cheers.

As the file out, they notice you watching and urge you to go up with someone else in the temple to clear your heart and offer up your own stories. They can be stories of home, information about your worlds, or stories about your life. It seems the more personal the story, the brighter the flame though and the more Dora that will mysteriously show up in your account at a later date. If the priests are asked about this donation later, they're just as perplexed. No one they know would have paid anyone for an offering to Ohma, so where could it have come from....?

This month features a recently-rediscovered old festival: the Feast of the Winged Lord. Technically it's meant to be a summer festival, but Havenwell already has a handful of seasonal celebrations that they hold near and dear to their synthetic hearts, so instead they've opted to integrate it into an end-of-fall festival. Many of the restored architecture of the arena heavily features a creature that, if asked, the locals can't quite give a name to; some renditions show it to be a gryphon-like animal, others an enormous dragon that dwarfs any imagery of Rawna, a few show a giant bird clad in flames. The general consensus is that a Winged Lord does feature in certain old texts, but the truth of said tales has become muddled over the centuries. Some cite him to be the creator of all things at their origin point, others dub him a usurper of undeserved power. Most people honestly can't remember anything about him, so they're having a ball making up a bunch of nonsense that may or may not have an ounce of truth to it.

What does the Feast itself entail, you ask? For the most part, it is self-explanatory: there's a lot of food. Decorative display carts are set up in lines along the sides of the arena, in and out, though the majority is outside to avoid interfering with whatever folks happen to be doing with the nanomachines. Meat skewers and fried dumplings, cream-filled pastries, dipped fruits- the food is all manner of strange and spicy finger food recipes uncovered from the old days, measured precisely and quite delicious. A year of trial and error (and lots of feedback, good or bad) has given the locals plenty of experience in how to cook again, despite lacking the ability to eat it themselves. The entire street smells amazing and enticing.

Offworlders who have been around the block long enough may feel wary about eating the food here to avoid strange or uncomfortable effects, but they might be surprised to discover that there are no side effects from the food.

No one is quite sure how, but the natives have come to learn about a very particular figure in many of the offworlders' legends. He appears one time a year, shrouded in mystery, visiting in the dead of night, only to vanish until the next year. This godlike figure has piqued their interest to say the least and once Ranir is in full swing, offworlders who are aware of the legend of Santa Claus will start seeing some robots, especially Rawna's temple priests, wearing that familiar red and white outfit around town. They're carrying sacks on their backs and going door to door, electronics buzzing with excitement as they find anyone they can to shove an actual pen and paper into their hands.

"All hail the Santa of Clause!" they exclaim with glee. "Hail to your winter god! Nail your socks to the wall!"

Anyone who receives a letter set in person will then be told to write a letter to the Santa of Clause (and the robots ARE checking spelling. Who's ever heard of Santa Claus? Clearly you're mistaken and need a spelling software update) asking for a present, to a friend in town, or to someone back home. They won't leave until you write your letter, either. Whether it means they have to follow you all day, all week, or straight into your homes, they will complete their duty to the Santa of Clause and appease his great and terrible appetite for grammatically correct letters. For those who are lucky enough to avoid the robots in person, they may find a letter set in their mailbox one more with similar instructions about to whom they should be writing and a cheery announcement that someone will be by later to pick the letter up.

Those who wish to write letters to someone who is no longer among the city population or those who have never been here are more than encouraged to do so. In fact, Rawna's temple priests seem particularly interested in having people come by to read those letters directly at their temples to tie this offworld holiday into Rawna's typical purview. Read your letters to your loved ones or just read a letter detailing what you want for the holidays at Rawna's temple to unburden your soul as the year ends. Maybe you'll walk away feeling lighter than before.