=> [MIRACLE ELIXIR] A parcel arrives ... (Aftermath!)

[Hivestuck]

"One drop of this will roll back the passage of time and leave you feeling as young as a little grubling, it will tone and shape muscle, it will add that extra gloss to your horns, yes sir any troll with two licks of sense will be using Miracle Elixir! "

The words rang out in your memory as a suspiciously lumpy parcel sat on your front step. It seems that the free sample you signed up for a few nights ago had arrived, just as you had completely forgotten about it. Unwrapping it, you noticed the bottle had no label, and all that fell out of the packaging was a small card with the instructions to take 'one spoonful with every meal' on it. Fitting perhaps for such a shady concoction. I mean, who in their right mind would pay to drink something hawked by some weird street vendor? The key word here of course, was pay. There was no harm in trying it at least for one day, since the bottle arrived at your house, right?

Following the instructions, you took a first cautious, and then heaping spoonful of the tasty sticky syrupy liquid. If it wasn't useful as an actual medicinal supplement, then it could certainly be marketed as some kind of food enhancer. The hardest part was limiting yourself to only one spoonful, to be honest. Apart from the flavour, it seemed to do nothing, and as the sun rose, dismissing it as tasty but useless, you turned in for the day.

The next night, as you climbed out of your recupricoon, you found yourself struggling. Why did it suddenly feel so much bigger than the night before? Why did you have to haul yourself out with so much effort? And was it just your eyes playing tricks on you, or did your entire block seem to be larger ...?? It wasn't long before you caught sight of yourself in a mirror, and the the trouble really began.

Every troll that decided to try their luck with the mysterious Miracle Elixir has woken up to find themselves de-aged! Thankfully the effects seem to be mostly physical, but there do seem to be some mental side effects as well ... trolls will find themselves instinctively acting much like they did when they were younger, to their own dismay. What's going on here?!

Check the post you made in the shady merchant thread for a picture of your troll's current embarrassing state.... and their journal headers have been changed as well!  

[Hivestuck]

Quote:

BUT
THIS MEANS BELIFE CAN SEE AGAIN :>
How exciting!

sorry dude, not really
they didnt go back in time, theyre just them as kids now!
see: semp is still missing a horn, scars, etc

it doesnt heal them, just turns them into babbus

Quote:

How long does this last? Will they turn back to their proper ages at some point, or will they have to "age" like other kids in the future?

hmm i wonder i wonder ninja and i bet the kids are wondering the same!! what will happen?? stay tuned for updates as CHILD CHAOS errupts around us

(as mentioned, the event itself will run till the end of october. however, what happens to your kids will depend on what happens during the next two months...)

Quote:

since there isn't a -main event thread- for this plot, feel free to rp your kiddie trolls in private threads or whatever you'd like. i won't really be starting anything plot related for a few weeks, so you totally have time to have your guys run around shrieking in horror or whatever they want to do.

also the 'cant explore beyond hives' rule for kids doesn't apply to any troll who de-aged using a potion, since you're technically old enough to take care of yourself right now.

technically  

[Hivestuck]

Troll society, never stable at the most of times, had not reacted well to the sudden de-aging of over a third of the population. Trolls who could quickly and competently perform their daily tasks found themselves unable to work with the machines that were designed for fully grown adults, and the remaining trolls who had not sampled the Miracle Elixir had to cope with running what was left of the cities.

Each night, trolls awoke hoping to have aged up as they slept, only to find themselves just as short and helpless as ever. As the newspapers promised that scientists were working around the clock trying to reverse the affects of the potion, fliers began to appear by the cartloads in every major city. It was clear that the queen's never-abundant patience had run out, and against any advice from more prudent trolls, was taking matters into her own hands.

Wanted
"Mr Miracle Elixir"
1,000,000 Beetles Reward
"I, Regina Marian, do promise to pay the full price of 1m beetles to the troll who brings me, alive,
the creator of the widely known Miracle Elixir, along with proof that he is indeed the correct troll."

A CYOA troll hunt game will begin on the 7th and run for four weeks. Participants will be able to choose where your troll searches for the target, with a new choice each week, and will be pmed different clues to his location depending on where they searched. At the end of the game, all players who find the target will be able to try and capture him. Trolls are encouraged to team up so they are able to look everywhere and find all the clues, but they will have to trust that their partners are honest with their findings! Devious backstabbing is encouraged in-character only. Remember, the less other trolls find him, the larger a cut of the bounty your troll will get.  

[Hivestuck]

You decide to start off your search in the bustling metropolis of New Hemisect. Surely the culprit had been to the largest city in all of Alternia at some point- who hadn't? Rumour had pointed the hunt in this direction, with claims of his distributors and business partners being located somewhere among the many dealers lining the busy streets. And boy, does that one million beetles reward sound awesome! Questioning one of the trolls involved directly with the serum makes the most sense- who do you choose to interview?

1. the Journalist - The newsbreaking writer was the one to initially cover the story in The Equivocal Bulletin with her shocking front pager. The greenblood has been meticulously following the story every inch of the way, and with her collected knowledge seems like a logical lead.

2. the Deliverytroll - You decide to interview the seemingly innocent lowblooded owner of the delivery company that distributed the prepackaged elixir to the unsuspecting victims in the first place. Perhaps they had some first hand information on their client and the source of the potions.

3. the Shady Dealer - You think finding the moustached salesperson that talked you into buying the elixir in the first place is the the most obvious course of action. Perhaps if you lurked around where you saw her last, you'd run into her again...!

4. the Accountant - Someone had to deal with all the beetles that were swapped in exchange for the promising-sounding elixir! If you went to the one and only Royal Bank perhaps you could get in touch with the accountant that handled the transactions and squeeze some information out of him.

You have one week to post your choice below. Answers will be distributed at the end of the week. If your trolls want to share their findings with each other, please do so through pm or im, as long as you keep them hidden from the general public! Any troll who's interested in getting a shot at the bounty is free to participate, regardless of if the're a victim of the Miracle Elixir or not.  

[Roadkill]

4. the Accountant

It wasn't after hearing about the bounty that Thalia became interested in tracking down this evil-doer. No, it was after meeting Khanda in her child-like state. Thalia had to find the cure to his illicit elixir, or, ur, something appropriately dramatic.

Deciding that it was better to split up and cover more ground, Khanda and Thalia parted ways for the time being. He was hesitant to send her out on her own, but what else could he do?

His first target was the accountant! These beetles had to have changed hands somehow-- and the accountant would know what's up.  

[Galaxa13]

2. Deliverytroll

They had discussed splitting up to cover more ground, but the thought hadn't bothered Khanda until she and Thalia had arrived in the city. There was more going on than she was used to and so many things were vying for her attention. She pushed that all aside, though, as she parted ways with Thalia. She had a mission to do! They had spoken to the one who had sold the elixir to her already, so the next step was to talk to the one who distributed the horrid little bottles.  

[Dartanian Isthill]

((PFFFT! HOW DID I EVEN?!)))

3. Shady Dealer


Chapter One: Meeting The Shady Dealer

The musty, grime covered streets of downtown NHC always brought a stifling effect. The thick haze of smog and detritous vapours that rose from the sewer vents was more putrid than ever as I walked along, hands in my pockets, eyes alert as always. Looks from the locals were harsh and questioning, but I didn't pay much attention. No one was going to give me much trouble, so I assumed. And even if trouble were to stir, a quick glance skyward told me where my aerial shadow hung. No, there wouldn't be any problem in regards of safety. The real problem would be finding the Dealer that flaunted her wares that fateful night...The night that the clock turned back.

It was like any other night, as these near-apocalyptic turmoil induced settings seem to start out. The kind of night where a guy could sit back and watch the world buzz by in a flash of neon. She had one of those faces... one of those faces that suggested you'd seen her a dozen times or more in passing; just a glint out of the corner of your eye. Probably because of the goofy, over-sized glasses and that ridiculous plastic moustache. Either way, you'd never give her much of a second glance because it wouldn't be your business...  

[Red Th0rn]

1. the Journalist

A search was on, eh? Well, why leave it to the rest of the incompetents to scare off the culprit? Taquin was well-versed at navigating the web of rumors and under-the-table information, he'd get his hands on this antidote before any beetle-grubby idiot got too close.

The troll researching the scenario was bound to know more than what they revealed to the masses. Perhaps a bit of bartering and a (fake) promise to a cut of the reward would loosen their speech flap. If that didn't work, there was always threats and brute force at hand. Just because his height was shortened, that didn't mean his strength was weakened. (Maybe he was a bit more keen to violence, though.)  

[purplerosesbeauty]

3. The Shady Dealer

Eostre had to get to the source of this elixir that turned her into a goddamn wriggler again. She was cute and all, but she couldn't stand being treated like she wasn't 7 sweeps anymore. Even her lusus started treating her different, and it was unacceptable. Eostre was going to go right to the source of this and take down whoever made this elixir, and make a cool mil in beetles while she was at it.

She decided to deal with something she understood -- Shadiness. She went to go find the shady dealer who sold her the Miracle Elixir in the first place and see if the merchant knew more than she claimed to know.

 

[Sugi Kawakita]

3.) The Shady Dealer

Pyruet performed her triple-tap as she stepped out of her tower onto the expansive plains that surrounded her hive, ensuring she had her three essentials.

Gun?

Check.

Gun?

Check.

Gun?

All set.

Her triad of derringers secured, she once again frowned at the fact that she'd had to downsize her firepower, and pulled the door closed behind her, not even bothering to lock it. Owlmom was home for the night, she'd hear any intruder from a mile away, and probably eat them. Security doesn't get much better than colossal devilbirds that could hear a fairybull yawn in the next city over.

She wasn't in it for the reward. She didn't even know what she'd buy with that much money. She was just pursuing another criminal, one who'd had the audacity to set a huge portion of the planet back a generation, which she was pretty positive was not actually against the law yet, but the Queen had put out a bounty, and ******** it, that was close enough.

First step was clearly to grill the b*****d who'd distributed the stuff. Tonight, Pyre was on a man(?)hunt.  

[iStoleYurVamps]

1. the Journalist -

Atiqua was still a kid, and this, potions were...not happening. She didn't do em, didn't need em. Sucked for everyone... but her. With the sudden influx of grub state, she was making bank selling 'kid s**t'. The whole potion gig wasn't that bad for her lot in particular. The only problem was now she had to watch her back double time given that she had no idea who was a real kid and who was someone just in the suckiest sweep ever.

The offer of 1 million beetles... well there was kind of a huge problem. The dumb empty think pan'd moron who collected the reward would be flayed alive after they collected. Really, 1 million beetles. One troll. You jumped that s**t. No a better course for Atiqua was in her mind to find someone to buddy up to. Get a slice of the slime pie as it were. Not that she wanted slime pie. Nope. Ew, no thanks.

Nah, Atiqua was going to go about this with logic. The city was buzzing with life, and it's fair share of secrets. But the source to start with was the one with the sources. The one with the hooks and the bait and the business of being in people's business. Heading out for the Journalist, Atiqua was thinking about how to get something from the one who would usually have the latest scoop.  

[Tiarana]

1. The journalist

LaRoce had gone on the prowl for the trolls involved in suspicious potions-dealing before...though at the time he had only half-believed the potions were real; the queen's proclamation lent a certain legitimacy to the problem when even the purple troll hadn't. But there was no way he'd say no to a pile of beetles a million strong, so even if he had his doubts, LaRoce decided to join the search. He'd already asked around Old Hemisect once, so he thought to himself, why not make it an adventure and start in New Hemisect instead. The Hogfather was not pleased with this development, but, well, LaRoce was going to go anyway, so he might as well follow.

LaRoce still didn't have any idea who was behind the potions or where to start looking for them, but the latest issue of The Equivocal Bulletin caught his eye as he wandered aimlessly past a newsstand. Right on the front page was an article detailing the latest developments in the search for the potion-maker. The journalist seemed well-informed on the subject, and they were as good a place to start as any. LaRoce grabbed the paper, tossed some beetles at the cashier and got some directions, and headed for the offices of The Equivocal Bulletin, giant boar lusus in tow.  

[Syusaki]

1. Journalist

In the beginning, Mofein had hoped that the potion would wear off eventually. Isn’t that how a lot of them worked? The first day he somehow managed the bear with; the second had been difficult. So the days continued, stacking on top of each other, but each morning he would wake up and stared down at his tiny kid hands. So apparently, the effects wouldn’t be naturally going away anytime soon. A puffy-cheeked Mofein, after checking his face paint, waddled out of his hive in search of the journalist. A good journalist always went around digging for information and double-checking their sources, so surely she would be a reliable source.

Hopefully.  

[quite uneventful]

The Accountant

Vremea had gone too long without work. Sure, it was nice, being able to take a break, but she always found herself returning to the library— and seeing the other troll just sitting at the desk doing nothing irritated her. She was leaving the piles of books to grow... How irresponsible... She pursed her lips. She needed to do something, fast. She needed to look for a cure— and as it turned out, so did the queen.

1 million beetles.

She almost choked on her water when she read that.

She definitely wanted to help. Afterall, not only would it help them all— she'd gain 1 million beetles from helping. If she won. Which was a very small chance, due to the many she guessed whom had bought the same product. She could finally hire someone to build a small hive for Yakmom. She could ask Athene if she could make her more extravagant clothing...

Vremea honestly didn't know where Athene was, and had been looking for her over and over again, but to her disappointment, she couldn't find her. She might have been horribly busy with the shop— after all, turning into a kid again must've hurt her business hard. She was probably trying to put it back together... She didn't blame her.

Which was why she looked for Odette.

She had been turned into a kid as well(and she was so adorable she just wanted to dress her up in everything she owned!). They both had the same goal— to turn into a teen again— so they decided to collaborate and share their gathered information. She was sitting on a bench in NHC, thinking about who to ask. She was tempted to go looking for the dealer, but knew that troll was probably pretty busy with all their unsatisfied customers, or hiding from them.

She'd look for the one who wrote the article later. They're still looking for leads after all, nothing concrete.

The Accountant was probably her best bet— after all, how else would the troll get the money? Off she went— To the bank!  

[thyPOPE]

The DELIVERYTROLL

So Alifax was getting a little antsy. It was silly, he knew, but the bulk of his income was really competitive FLARP. Sure, it was a hobby of his, and he did indulge in Hazzan's story things (and, by extension, Frossa's story things, because even when Hazzan was clouding, Frossa always had her own backstory or whatnot) when he had free time, or when he needed an unusual sort of practice. And they were friends of his, and admittedly he'd gone and signed up for the Alternian Imperial Military with them. But every week, he threw his life into his FLARP duels with his clouder, who, if occasionally distant, was one of the best around. That had been how they'd made their living - together, they raked in enough points to garner the win in a weekly match, and therefore the prize pot, often enough that Alifax rarely went hungry. Or cold (not that that was really an issue), or unclean, or unable to pay for schoolfeeding.

But he hadn't seen or had word from his clouder in weeks. Not since...probably two days after he'd consumed that strange elixir - apparently Alifax's clouder had urgent business to attend to, and wouldn't be able to meet him for their weekly strategy meeting. He'd received that letter and thought nothing of it; it had to happen some time, professional or no.

But Alifax had been the only member of Team Oxide present at their next match, and without a clouder and tinier and more awkward than ever (although luckily still in possession of roughly the same stats: his gaming flapstractions, luckily, recognized him), he'd pretty much defaulted to a loss. And there'd only been radio silence after that, and he'd lost the next few matches, as well - Team Oxide was really taking a dive in the rankings lately. Soon enough they'd be a laughingstock.

And Alifax had found that his fundings had run too low already in the past few weeks - he'd definitely had to cut back, and it turned out heating had costs. He was accustomed to warmth, already, and had generally kept fires going in his hive by way of his powers. But in this body - they were so much harder to control, and it was so much harder to awaken the flames than it had ever been. So with expenses rising, it was unbearable that Alifax go without his partner.

Those were the thoughts on Alifax's mind as he gazed at the flier before him. The first thought, of course, was the beetles - Alifax needed beetles, to the point where he might possibly be willing to stand in the same room as their illustrious empress (he didn't count the military recruitment; everyone who was really loyal to the empire had been there!) to get them. And also he'd be willing to track down the creator of this elixir. Somehow.

Besides, it was probably for a good cause. Alifax would like to be older again - although really, he just wanted to be able to burn things again. He had never realized how much he relied on his abilities until now. And, further...well, he'd figured his partner had taken the elixir, as well. Alifax knew that his clouder only rarely had contact with other trolls. Perhaps if he searched out the lowblood who had delivered the elixir, he'd know what to look for. After all...

Well, first, the deliverytroll was a lowblood, which meant Alifax probably wasn't risking getting culled. Second, the deliverytroll had probably seen Alifax's clouder, or maybe some indication that his partner was...doing something strange (Alifax didn't really want to think about what had caused this radio silence). And third - there was no doubt in Alifax's mind that the distributor of the strange elixir knew its creator.

With that in mind, Alifax set out on a search.