Vaughn's posts

Posted in Vaughn's Memory Posted 4 years ago

Summary
Vaughn, being a lover of all things sledding, would love to see Volties create their own sled!
Use all your creativity and ideas to create the best sled you can!

Today's Game... BUILD YOUR OWN SLED!
Not necessarily a puzzle, but more of a craft project!
Provided for you are two images of sleds, one more ornate and the other more simple.
Also provided are some accessories you can use to decorate your sled!
However, you don't have to use any of these images if you don't want to!
Feel free to draw/craft your sled any way you want, with any program/medium you choose!

You have 24 hours to craft your sled before the next thread is unlocked and this one locked.

Prize
Everyone who attempts to craft their own sled will receive the EI Vaughn's Memory
Additional copies can be bought in Joyful Jamboree.

Posted in Vaughn's Memory Posted 4 years ago

Vaughn sat by the fire in Valentina's workshop, watching her work away at a little pet project of hers. It was an enormous sleigh with all sorts of gizmos and gadgets which, knowing Valentina, did a variety of cool tricks. He gazed in fascination at her working on something so elaborate, thinking back to the sleigh he built himself and had ridden on many snowy Solstice days.

- - -

With Solstice comes a lot of traditions and activities that spark joy in everyone. One such activity that most children looked forward to was rushing up the snowy hills with their new toy sleds. Joyful laughter could be heard in every direction as children raced down the hills and landed in piles of soft, powdery snow.

For Vaughn, sledding was his most favorite memory of the past Solstice seasons. It felt like flying, especially on large hills that allowed the kids to perform small tricks on snow banks.

While parents sat nearby watching out for their young ones, the kids all gathered together to discuss the rules for their upcoming race.

Vaughn took a deep breath and raised his hand, revealing his index finger. "Rule Number One! No cheating! I'm looking at you, Marty!" A young, red nosed boy sniffled and looked down at his shoes in shame. "It was one time, Vaughn!"

"Rule Number Two!" Vaughn shouted, ignoring Marty's plea of innocence. "You gotta reach the end without crashing! If you crash, you're disqualified!"

A young girl with poofy blond hair and big, round glasses exclaimed, "But Vaughn, we're kids! We're probably gonna crash! That's a dumb rule."

Vaughn rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, Marie, you guys can crash. But just don't get in the way of the others!"

"One last rule! The most important rule of all, so pay attention!" All the kids grouped closer around Vaughn, eager to hear the "most important rule."

"You gotta... ride all the way down the hill..." The kids bobbed up and down impatiently waiting. "Blindfolded!"

Shouts of protest came from all the kids at Vaughn's last rule. "B-but that's not safe Vaughn, we could really get hurt!" one of the kids nervously explained.

Vaughn stared at them in all seriousness for a minute... then burst into laughter. "I'm just teasing you all! The last rule is obviously to just have fun! That's what Solstice Sledding is about!"

Marty, the kid earlier accused of cheating, looked puzzled. "I thought the point was to win?"

The other kids rolled their eyes and laughed, turning to rush up the hill and take their places. Vaughn made sure they were all lined up and ready with their sleds, then started the countdown. "Alright everybody! On my go! One... Two... Three... GO!" Everyone clamored down the hill, their hearts and minds suddenly filled with happiness, determination to win a race long forgotten.

Vaughn stayed back, deciding not to start with the others so he could enjoy the hill all by himself. Pure glee lit up his face as he hurtled towards the bottom of the hill, the chilly wind stinging his face.

- - -

A loud clang brought Vaughn back to present time. "Valentina? What was that?" He looked around and couldn't see her so he got up to inspect the sleigh. She wasn't in there either, so she must have left and made the noise as she was leaving. He took a slight peek in the sleigh, smiling at the genius that was Valentina's invention. If only he'd had a sleigh like this when he was a kid...

Shaking his head, Vaughn chuckled and sat back down by the fire.

Art by Saeyra

Posted in Chapter Thirteen: Valentina and Vaughn Posted 4 years ago

CLUES UNLOCKED...

With a magnificent cacophony of whirring gears, flashing lights and some sputtering of more lightly colored smoke, Valentina’s newest invention came to life. As it continued chugging along in its newfound mechanical life, Valentina couldn’t help but grin triumphantly. Vaughn let out an impressed whistle while Vontell coughed from the smoke.

Their device finally completed, Valentina and Vaughn were more than willing to answer Vontell’s questions. The latter was the first to speak as Voltra’s resident tinkerer tried wiping a final smudge from her new baby’s shiny surface, its consistent movement making it a little difficult to do steadily.

“See, we didn’t even get to the event thanks to Val here getting’ all distracted with this new contraption she got running. Heck, we weren’t even sure what was happenin’ out there until all the noise n’ chaos started up!” Vaughn huffed.

“Ooooooh…” Valentina held a look of contemplation on her face as she scratched her chin, “I was gonna meet Vanora tonight…OH WELL.” She shrugged, about to go back to her tinkering when Vontell cleared his throat and took something out of one of his pockets.

They were pictures of the statue taken at different angles. He set them down on a cleared table nearby and spread them out for easier viewing.

“Well, I would like it if you two took a look at these. The struggle between Trick and Treat has been mostly due to the state the statue pictured here. As you can see…” Vontell pointed out the damage done to the statue “…it is in quite the sorry state.”

“Yeeeesh, that DOES look real bad.” Vaugh commented, scratching his head at the sight, “Like someone got crazy with a handful of blowtorches…”

“That statue…hmmm…” Valentina rubbed her cheek as she stared at the photo, “…can’t help but think about how it’s all melted n’ stuff despite the impressive structural integrity. It's more likely some type of mild solvent caused erosion or dissolution... Hm, but it could also be possibly cause by heat. If so, the source would need to draw a ginormous amount of power! ... I gotta run some quick calculations, maybe theorize possible scenarios and components too..." by now, Valentina had begun scribbling on a notepad she’d gotten out of somewhere.

Vaughn chuckled as she continued sketching, formulating and talking all at the same time. “Yeeaaah…she’ll be like this for a while…” He looked down at the photos with a contemplative gaze, “Huh, takin’ a closer gander at it, yeah this does look peculiar. Real sorry if we couldn’t help too much, but we wish ‘ya luck. We’ll keep ‘ya posted on any insights Val and I have though!”

Valentina gave a thumbs up as she continued scribbling.

• Found at the scene: Paint Supplies, a Bucket with a Bandage, and a Hairdryer with a Tangled Chord
• The letters "V F" were carved into the base of the statue
• Vanora was backstage (two witnesses confirm)
• Vivienne was backstage, and was with Treat
• Volkan was never out of anyone's sight
• The hairdryer belonged to Vivienne, and was not working correctly. Its chord was not tangled when she left it
• Vyctor delivered the statue and was backstage alone
• Virgil was the artist that created the statue
• Virgil claims the statue was a lifelike replica of Treat when he created it, he doesn't know what happened
• Virgil specifically told Vyctor not to remove the sheet, so Vyctor never saw it. Virgil claims this was to keep it protected.
• The statue was fragile
• Vanora left a mess backstage with paint, Vyctor cleaned it
• The Voltra Police Department was working security and kicked Vyctor out
• Vanora claims to have been with Velvet, who had an emergency
• Valentina should have been at the event, but was not and has not been answering her phone
• Violet helped Virgil with the statue, and had photographs to prove their innocence
• Violet used magic on the statue to help keep it from breaking
• Vichard went to Joyful Jamboree to buy candy said he had a big plan for it. It was to prank his brother.
• Vregory has a big sweet tooth, and was kept away from the statue while it was in the shop
• Vregory and Vichard were too busy distracting each other to interfere with the statue
• Vichard had no knowledge of the exchange or the statue
• Officer Milly and Officer JC guarded the doors entering the backstage, while Officer Garry was patrolling inside
• Officer Garry says it's impossible that anyone got to it with him around
• Officer Garry had a wound on his knee he has no memory of
• Officer Garry has a disorder that causes him not to feel pain, and is a klutz
• The Guardians claim there was no interference from The Agents of Entropy, Veles, or any form of dark magic
• Valentina was working at her workshop to help the Guardians
• Val and Vaughn never arrived at the event because she was caught up in her work
• Val and Vaughn both agree that the statue has been melted, but cannot agree on a source (Val suggests it dissolved, Vaughn suggests it was by a heart source)

In hopes of discovering what caused this tiff between Trick and Treat, I've taken it upon myself to investigate this mystery. I began by searching the backstage, where the statue had been stored prior to the exchange. My search yielded:

- Paint supplies
- A bucket with a bandage
- A hairdryer with a tangled chord
- The letters "V F" carved into the statue's base

Perhaps these are important clues... Or perhaps it is just rubbish left behind. We'll have to search further.

Questioning the mayor, who was closest to the scene, I discovered the following information:

- Mayor Volkan was busy all day and was never alone at any point
- The statue was being watched all the time it was backstage
- Vanora, Vivienne, and security were backstage, at least that Volkan knew of

Perhaps Vanora or Vivienne may be able to shed more light upon this situation...

My poor friend Vivienne appeared to be under a lot of distress when I visited her. It seems she was having some technical difficulties with her equipment. After I calmed her, we discussed her experience backstage:

- Her hairdryer stopped functioning properly when she was styling Treat's hair
- She was with Treat the entire time, the entered and left the backstage together
- She confirmed Vanora was there
- She mentioned that Vyctor was also there, and potentially delivered the statue

Vyctor was an ordeal to speak to, due to the large influx of customers he had been faced with. However, once they had cleared out our conversation yielded a surprising amount of leads and information:

- Virgil was the artist behind the statue, and has asked Vyctor to transport it for him
- Virgil was very clear that Vyctor was not to remove the sheet at any time, so Vyctor never saw it before the reveal on stage
- Vyctor had time alone backstage, as there was nobody around when he delivered the statue
- There was a mess of paint left by an unknown person, which Vyctor took the time to clean up
- Vyctor was eventually escorted out by the Voltra Police Department, who were acting as security for the event

After having to go on a bit of a chase to capture Timberland, I managed to have a little talk with Vanora. She was able to verify some information, as well as offer a few interesting leads:

- She left the mess backstage when she was painting props and displays
- She was called away in the middle of it by Velvet, who claimed to have an emergency
- Claims she never saw Vyctor or the statue, but she did recall passing Vivienne
- Valentina should have been at the event, but Vanora never saw her and cannot contact her

Virgil was in a worse mood than usual when I paid him a visit, seemingly because of the sorry state Joyful Jamboree was in. After helping him clean up, he was open to a conversation:

- He admits to creating the statue, stating that it was a commission from Trick
- He denies tampering with it, even going so far as to state he wishes he did because of the reaction it caused
- Virgil stated that the statue was fragile and needed careful handling
- He state that Violet was with him during the creation, and that she may have useful evidence

To follow up Virgil's claims, I ventured to speak with his sister Violet. Unfortunately when I arrived, she seemed to be tied up with her work. After helping her organize, she revealed to me:

- She did help Vigil craft the statue, and had photo evidence to prove they were innocent
- The statue was made of candy
- She had cast a spell on the statue to strengthen it and keep it from breaking
- Vichard had been to the store, and mentioned having a "big plan" in store. it required a lot of candy
- Vregory was seen as an obstacle, as he can't help himself around candy

Finding Vregory King, greatly upset by the chaos that is currently ruling Voltra, I helped him calm down somewhat, after which he told me:

- He found goodies on the ground and made to collect them
- He didn't go backstage at all
- He arrived to watch the Ritual in the audience and didn't seem to realise that anything was off with the statue
- He thought the statue smells good, which ties into it being made of candy like Violet said

Vichard King seemed to be in a foul mood and not willing to communicate at first. After playing his little game, he spoke to me:

- He bought the candy to lead his brother Vregory into a trap, which failed
- He's been so focused on trying to prank his brother, he missed the entire exchange and had no knowledge of the statue or the fighting
- He suggested we speak to the guardians

The police station was in chaos when I arrived, but after helping Officer Garry deliver coffee I was able to ask him some questions:

- He confirmed that he, Officer JC, and Officer Milly were acting as security at the event
- He claims JC was at the front door, Milly at the back, and he was inside the backstage on patrol
- He claims nobody would have been able to bypass him without notice
- He had a mystery wound on his knee, but he seemed unbothered by it
- He revealed that he falls often and struggles to keep track of them for it
- He also has a disorder that causes him not to feel pain, so he never noticed it

I found Velvet in quite a fit, but after she calmed down by speaking to me, I discovered the following:

- Velvet's upset Trick and Treat's feud pulled the spotlight away from her and her costume
- She pulled Vanora away to help her with her costume in the bathroom
- She and Vanora weren't present for the exchange

It seems Frizz, Static, and Spark have been doing their best to try to reason with Trick and Treat, but to no avail. Speaking with Spark yielded an important piece of information:

- It was NOT The Agents of Entropy
- It was NOT Veles
- Dark magic has NOT been used
- Valentina is apparently helping the Guardians, and should be at her workshop

I finally managed to track down Valnetina. Luckily she was safe and well, as was Vaughn.

- They revealed they never arrived at the event, as Val caused them to be late when she got absorbed by her work
- They claim they had no knowledge of the statue's current state
- Vaughn theorizes it was melted by heat
- Valentina theorizes it was melted by a liquid/solvent, but says it's possible a large amount of heat could cause that damage

WHAT'S NEXT?

We have finally interviewed all possible leads!
But this isn't the end.
Join tomorrow as we gather for one final time...
Be ready.

Volkan
Vivienne
Vyctor
Vanora
Virgil
Violet
Vregory
Vichard
VPD
Velvet
The Guardians
Valentina and Vaughn

Posted in Chapter Thirteen: Valentina and Vaughn Posted 4 years ago

ROTATE

Current Progress
Participants Playing: 12
Correct Answers: 4

Posted in Final Chapter: Blooming March (Personality Quiz! Find out Which NPC you are!) Posted 5 years ago

Congratulations
The reunion of friends and family couldn't have been done without your work helping us protect Voltra.
Thank you, Volties! As a final event activity, we have put together a personality quiz for everyone to take.
Click the link below to find out....

Which Voltra.us NPC are YOU?!

Posted in Final Chapter: Blooming March (Personality Quiz! Find out Which NPC you are!) Posted 5 years ago

While everyone was busy with the continuing celebration, Valentina’s focus was on a scrap of paper in her hand, the pencil in the other scribbling and sketching upon its surface. Vanora made her way over to the tinker’s side and coughed in a bid to catch her attention.

“Uh…h-hey, Val? Just came to check on you, see if you’re alri-”
While speaking, she let out a surprised squeak as Valentina let out an “Aha!” before she erased something and replaced it with more scribblings. She did however look up, having finally noticed Vanora’s presence.

“Oh, heya there Vanora! Didn’t see ya there! Checkin’ if I’m alright? I’m fine, I’m fine…after all ‘tha hubbub from earlier, thought I’d just distract myself with some good ol’ tinkerin’! No worries really…saaaay, ‘ya also thinkin’ ‘ya might need something made? I got something I’m drawin’ up here that might catch 'yer interest!” and words after words seem to just fire out of her friend’s mouth like a hurricane. Vanora’s mouth gaped, at a loss for words as Valentina’s verbal volley caught her somewhat off-guard. Soon, however, this turned into a warm smile at seeing Valentina’s enthusiasm and love for her craft. It was during the middle of her friend’s spiel that Vaughn made his entrance, cigar in mechanical hand as he, too, chiming in with his own expertise.

“What’s this? Looks like a nifty design to counteract Cinnabar’s mech, but ‘yer choice of material n’ distribution of ‘tha platin’s a lil’ inefficient kid...”
Vaughn interjected, getting a pout from Valentina in response before she interrupted:
“…But Vauuughn…stressin’ the material ain’t gonna be the end of it all! We could distribute the stress evenly by using lighter platin’ around here and here…”
Somehow, the two had ended up arguing over the design of a powered bipedal defense-oriented exoskeleton Valentina had drawn up on the scrap of paper she’d been drawing on for a while now. Vanora herself watched in the sidelines with a mix of relief and exasperation.
“See Val, ‘ya gotta think outside the box for this one! The idea’s sound but the distribution ratio’s off by at least thirty percent- “ Vaughn started before Valentina interrupted-
"’Ya just want me to plate one arm more over the other, don’tcha?”
And as Vaughn sputtered, another guest entered the fray.

“Ho-ho…it’s quite lively here, isn’t it?” Mayor Volkan exclaimed making his way towards his daughter and placing a hand on her shoulder. He’d been busy speaking with the revelers, easing their worries over the earlier situation while mingling with them at the same time when he noticed the group of three in his peripheral.
“I’m happy to see everyone in high spirits! Just goes to show that together we…hm?” the mayor’s nose crinkled as he took in the smell of cigar smoke. Huffing, he quickly got up to Vaughn and pulled the cigar from the now shocked man’s mouth.

“....Now Vaughn, I thought you would know better than to smoke around crowds? Nobody likes dealing with secondhand smoke, especially not the youngsters!” he tutted disappointedly, though everyone could see the mirthful twinkle in his eyes. Regardless, Vaughn swiped at the mayor’s hand holding his cigar, letting out a cry of frustration as he failed to take it back. Laughter filled their little circle of friends as the mayor proved his spryness in an impromptu game of tag, something that brought a smile to the face of those in the area.

Posted in You really stuck ya neck out for me, eh? Posted 5 years ago

Sorry, that ones a bit...hard to talk about....ahhh crap I'm cryin'.

CAN WE GET THE PARTY BACK ON, EH?

Someone get me a whole damn pot o' tea and spike it....*lights cigar*

Posted in You really stuck ya neck out for me, eh? Posted 5 years ago

Thanks to you volties and your hard work, I can finally live a peaceful existence with my pumpkin.

Shocked to learn she comes from a damn noble family, and wasn't a victim of child labor....BUT with all the
crap she went through I'll let it slide.

@Valentina: It's great to be home, kid.