westwhere | headed straight for the witches' castle

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headed straight for the witches' castle

Welcome to the bashful event covering 17 September – 9 October, working double duty as a test drive meme (TDM).

Existing players can strut their stuff here, or make separate logs & network posts. Our TDMing guests are stranded in this playground, but can include network options among play prompts.

If you’re test driving a character, you can apply them until 8 October without a game invite. Apps stay open beyond that, but you might need an invite or please get in touch @ groundrules to figure something out..

SCALE THE TOWER

Cousins Macaluso and Vannozza Spina vie for the favour of the witches of Bessis, in their bid to succeed their grandfather Bonaccorso as liege of magical citadel Taravast. In exchange for their endorsement, the Bessis have asked both electoral candidates to present extraordinary sorcery at a fete commemorating the Bessis truce with fellow court witches of Attaryl.

On the day of the ~~dis~~tasteful masque held in the upper levels of the Bessis tower, characters assigned to support Macaluso and Vannozza will split into two espionage missions — one upstairs alongside courtiers, charlatans and the Bessis, and another deep below, crossing abandoned aqueducts. Characters can participate in either effort, but should be discreet if they’re working against their patron.

It’s all fun and games if you’re enjoying Bessis hospitality upstairs — test drive characters might be rating their hotel stay a little less enthusiastically.

TDM TOURISTS | UPSTAIRS (TEAM MACALUSO) | DOWN BELOW (TEAM VANNOZZA) | COMMON TIMELINE | NOTES & MAP

TDM TOURISTS

Days ago, you woke up sequestered in an immense bird cage, chained near the ceiling of a tall, dark room that once served as a library or academic hall. Imprisoned with you are several strangers, equally warded from their supernatural powers and partly sedated — all the better to amuse the nearly two dozen (visibly) undead who roam the room, despite being loosely fettered to posts. They often swing for your cage, but fail to reach it.

■ Sorcerer sentries briefly release characters daily to feed or bathe in a repurposed nearby quarter with a large pool.

■ Characters receive basic devices that translate speech and writing, so they can understand their caretakers’ instructions. All along, the guards urge, Keep the animals distracted.

■ The undead reek of burning and wail their hurts. They are gifted in telepathy and often mentally share memories of carnage — two armies of sorcerers, one raining fire upon its enemies. At night, the undead seek to control the minds of caged characters, luring them to come down or harm others.

■ Necromancers sometimes visit to study the undead. The latest necromancer guest temporarily immobilises the creatures and throws three bundles of identical keys into the cage — he reveals he is employed by a Merchant, who wants the outsiders to travel east and return to their homes. They are currently in Taravast, captives of the witches of Bessis, who hold annual celebrations tonight. The keys will help with escaping the cage and accessing nearby tunnels.

■ The necromancer leaves behind rope, two daggers, and three potion vials that generate mist once smashed on the ground. Leave within an hour of your dinner, he says, before releasing the undead from his magic.

■ Get out. As soon as you can, running like hell from guards and the undead. If caught, the undead will rip you to bathe in your body’s waters and ease their burns.

■ The underground tower tunnels are patrolled by guards, who can be overpowered by groups. Characters will recover any supernatural powers within 40 minutes of leaving their prison. Escape tip? Steal the guards’ clothes.

■ The tunnels inevitably lead to the aqueducts, allowing you to meet Vannozza’s group.

» GET WET

UPSTAIRS

The halls of the Bessis sprawl over a pristine ivory tower, whose walls refract light in homage to the witches’ devotion to fire.

The tower receives guests today to celebrate the armistice between the sorcery schools of Bessis and Attaryl. The two groups futilely sought to slaughter each other many moons ago, with the Bessis notoriously gaining the upper hand — explaining the tense smiles of the Attaryl witches on premise.

The event is a standard Taravast masque: if there were coin to spare, someone poured it into the obscene dining displays and alcoholic fountains. Enjoy dimmed lights, the rare pickpocket or recreational narcotic — or test your luck at gambling tables, where winners can claim a forcibly extorted secret from losers over games of dice or cards.

Come masked and visibly unarmed — weapons are confiscated at the doors. Smuggle them in. Just outside the tower, take a walk through labyrinthine walled gardens surrounding a deep water moat and leading to abandoned aqueduct pipelines.

OF NOTE:

■ Magical sentries — armed with swords and fire spells — watch the banquet halls, stairs and outside grounds.

■ Bessis practitioners showcase fire, wind, water and air dances in the reception halls, along with performing token duels. Get involved, if you want.

■ Don Urbano, a respected Bessis sorcerer returned from abroad, announces his betrothal with Wen Qing, as orchestrated ~~and financed~~ by Beitang Moran.

■ Come sundown, Macaluso invites fete guests, Vannozza and the Bessis to join him on the balconies and behold the canal moats, where swims his recently captured white dragon. The creature is magnificent but tense, its ice power crackling.

ASSIGNMENTS:

■ Run recon of the halls. Keep track of guards, divert them from the aqueducts and alert your friends downstairs of their presence. Be obnoxious, loud and attention-grabbing when sentries get near the opened aqueduct entrance.

■ One of the night’s most profligate gamblers, Caterina Zalle, leads a coalition that produces magical weapons. She is allegedly in talks with forces abroad that fight their undead oppressors. Even tipsy, she only speaks with those who best her at the gambling table — pair up and figure out how to ~~cheat~~ improve your chances, then drop a line here to win donna Caterina’s answer(s).

» SMILE AND CARRY ON

DOWN BELOW

A jaded spirit, Vannozza knows Macaluso’s historical patronage of the Bessis makes them unlikely to favour her. Better to take advantage of leaked information: the Bessis hide a secret that’s required them to mysteriously invite necromancers each day. Learn what the Bessis are shrouding, so Vannozza can extort them later.

The lady offers her protegees — and anyone dragged along for the ride — a map to abandoned aqueducts accessible through the sentry-patrolled gardens that surround the tower of the Bessis. Guards will be thinner at the start of the evening festivities, but keep in touch with your counterparts upstairs, who can distract them while you infiltrate.

■ The aqueducts can be entered through a shielded gateway that will require characters to dig extensively for access. Divert the guards creatively: use magic, tricks, everyone is a hapless beggar or a drunk...

■ The intricate waterways once served Bessis sorcerers who specialise in water arts. The pipelines range from roomy and rusted to highly claustrophobic and slick with a coating of dark tar that gradually starts to follow you.

■ You find out quickly why the pipes were abandoned: the tar starts to accrue behind you, taking your shape and diplomatically doing its best to choke or drown you. Luckily, the creatures disperse after scant minutes — characters who traversed the Stairs of Sighs will recognise this is the same molten tar found in the rocky corridors.

■ Brace yourselves — for a short stretch, the canal dips into the moat surrounding the tower, home to Macaluso’s dragon. The creature is currently peaceful, but its constant chill has largely frozen the waters. Swim across the moat through ice pellets to re-enter the canals.

■ The aqueducts ease characters into pool quarters, which show signs of recent use for bathing. In the nearby corridors, guards are posted before a room that erupts in frequent howls. Get in, somehow —

■ ...and find a large study hall with an immense suspended cage, a series of freshly freed newcomers and undead witches, who use telepathy, levitation and light mind control to their advantage.

■ Now, you take your newcomer fools, choose between returning through the aqueducts or daring the heavily guarded tower corridors — and you run.

» UP WE GO

EVERYONE TOGETHER NOW

Nothing spices a party like nearly two dozen undead witches that seek to salve their burn wounds with the blood of the living. Some undead invade the banquet halls, others the gardens, while a few head into the aqueducts. They use telepathy, levitation and mind control diligently — and wear the decayed insignia of witches of Attaryl.

The chaos and the undead that enter the moat agitate the water dragon, who goes on hours of rampage, breathing sheets and walls of ice around the tower and effectively locking everyone within for two-three days.

...with the wandering undead. The witches of Bessis assist with fire magic and torches, but it’s every man for himself. Beware: the dragon starts with magical attacks, but quickly progresses to throwing itself bodily to topple the tower.

TO-DO LIST:

■ Calm or immobilise the berserk dragon to ease the ice storms
■ Capture the fire-fearing undead
■ Protect and evacuate Taravast’s useless 1%
■ Stay alive?

NOTES & MAP

■ Old timers: GO HERE to vote on the fates of the dragon ~~and later, the undead~~! And ask any questions you might have.

■ TDMers: TDM events count as game canon if you app in! TDM questions here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ To be completely fair, this conversation is being thrust upon him, and Anakin isn't good at a moral debate on the fly. He only knows his own feelings on the matter. He's ready to open his mouth and argue his point when Slick throws the accusation of being a slaver at him. His expression is one of betrayed surprise. His concentration falters, those words ringing in his ears.

The Seps don't keep us enslaved, Jedi--You do! That's-- it's ridiculous. They fight right alongside the clones, and the losses they suffer matter. He knows that's not the consensus amidst the Jedi, but most of them see the clones as allies. Not slaves. They hadn't been given the choice, but everyone tried to make the most of what they'd been shouldered with. If any of his men had voiced dissatisfaction with serving on the front, he'd have pulled them off duty. He likes to think so, anyway. Aside from Slick here, all of them seemed more than happy to.

So much has been happening lately that casts a larger shadow on the entire subject.. augh, they don't have time for this when they need to get out of this place. Anakin glances behind himself at the witch reciting her incantation and turns his focus to her, using the Force to shove her into the wall at the junction at the end of the hallway. It at least buys them time.

He's livid. He can feel it singing through his veins, sharpening his senses. Obi-Wan always told him his anger made him lose focus, but he found the opposite to be true.

It makes him feel powerful. ]

You're wrong. The Seps only want to enslave the entire galaxy and lay waste to everything else. [ He takes a breath, trying to keep his anger in check enough not to lash out. Patience. ]

Then don't. You have that choice.

[Oh, that insufferable calm was starting to break. He could see it. That in itself felt like a victory. If only his brothers were around to see, then maybe they would've finally realized what he had--the Jedi weren't special. They were just people, given too much power. And no matter what the propaganda said, they didn't have the honor or wisdom to be trusted with your life.

They'd been packed full of that propaganda, and the Jedi was trying to use it against him now.]

Then maybe you'll find out what it's like.

[He'd made the Jedi crack, just a bit. But it wasn't enough, and what he heard next made him even angrier. The Jedi was just telling him he had a choice. Just bestowing that like it was a gift that could be given, rather than a right they were denying all clones.]

And the indoctrinated don't. I won't abandon my brothers!

[He charged. It was stupid. Probably suicidal. But he didn't have a choice.]

[ Of course the Jedi are people. Very flawed people who were set to an unimaginable standard of excellence that..most can't attain to. Anakin sure as hell can't, and he's spent his entire life trying to fit into that 'good Jedi' mold that doesn't fit him as well as others do. It's never escaped his attention that he's always been an outsider.

That fucking prophesy he doesn't really put much stock in that has everyone caught up on.

The joke's on him? ..Funny that Slick doesn't have a clue. Anakin's feelings on the matter are dark, complex, and starting to bring back that tangled mess of emotion that loves to sit heavily in his chest. His own turmoil makes him snap waspishly, despite all those years of training to just let his feelings go into the Force. It's all bantha shit- they didn't have to live with it. ]

I won't let that happen again. [ He takes a few steps toward Slick, prone on the floor, but doesn't reach for the lightsaber at his hip. He keeps his hands clenched into tight fists at his side. The leather over his mechno arm creaks with the strain. ]

You putting them in more danger isn't helping them. If you think the Separatists are being honest with you, you're more stupid than your brothers.

[ Slick charges at him and Anakin lets him, ducking under his arm and leveling a fist squarely to his armored side. He wants to play dirty? Fine. They'll play dirty. ]

[The punch hit harder than it should have. The Jedi wasn't wearing armor, but it felt like getting walloped by a gauntlet anyway. He reeled away at an angle, trying to protect his bruised ribs.]

Sure. They might be using me. [He needed to regain his footing, taking the moment to square up again.] But they offered me freedom. The Republic never did. [A feint and another swipe with the knife, trying to get in past the Jedi's defenses.]

[ Sidestepping away, Anakin returns to a readied stance, balancing on the balls of his feet. ]

What they're offering you isn't really freedom. The minute you've done what they need, they'll kill you without hesitation. Do you think you're anything to them?

[ He's ready for the feint, but doesn't anticipate the knife in time and gets rewarded with a slice across the forearm. Anakin hisses in pain, drawing back. He touches the wound gingerly to see how bad it is. It's deep, but not life-threatening. ]

Did you ever stop to consider what it would cost your brothers?

[Ha! He felt it catch for a second there. He's drawn blood. Good. But that satisfaction only lasts a moment.]

You think I'm loyal to them? [Like they'd stolen him or something? Fuck that. Fuck Skywalker for thinking like that. He presses the attack, trying to land another hit.]

You didn't get it on Christophsis, and you're still not getting it now.

[ Anakin shuffles backward, waving a hand to push Slick back with the Force. If he can just tire him out.. ]

I don't think you're loyal to them, I just think you're foolish.

[Another push and stumbled back, gritting his teeth. This was why he'd tried to get the Seps to kill the Jedi. They had the numbers, even a few of--whatever the hells they called their not-Jedi. But he'd made Skywalker bleed. That showed it might be possible to pull this off. And he was going to keep up the offensive, cutting anywhere he could. Because if he stopped, this was all over.]

I don't care what a slavemaster thinks.

[ As far as Anakin is concerned, this is over, but not the way this trooper thinks. He lets him come closer, but uses the Force to fling him into the air toward the ceiling. He puts a bit more power into it than he intended, but that anger is only growing in his chest. ]

Funny, neither do I.

[Suddenly he's airborne, the back of his head and neck slamming into the ceiling hard enough to knock him senseless, the knife falling from his hands.

He had one last chance. He wasn't ready to deploy the stuff Fox had been teaching him. And he'd promised the guy he wouldn't use any of it for combat. And he'd intended to keep that promise, at least as long as they were working together.

But this felt like do or die.

His vision was swimming, but he did his best to focus, drawing on the components of the magic as Fox had taught him. Concentrate it, like plasma in a blaster bolt.

He breathed out, and the air in front of him rippled oddly, pushing slowly towards the Jedi as he fumbled for something in a makeshift pouch, a pair of small objects.

There was a quiet click of metal on stone, and then suddenly there was fire.]

[ His intention was to hold Slick airborne until he tired himself out enough that they could move past it at least temporarily. There's no way he could have anticipated fire. He was feeling confident. Cocky, even. His head tipped toward the ceiling, he watched, not thinking much of the action until flames shoot toward his face.

With a startled yelp, he relinquishes his hold on the suspended trooper, moving quickly away. He pats frantically over himself to extinguish the part of his robe that caught fire, and the side of his face and neck throbs in agony. He doesn't dare touch, but he knows there's going to be an angry burn there.

He can't rationalize how he did it, but he'd created fire out of basically nothing. Anakin stays speechless, staring at Slick from a respectable distance away in disbelief. ]

[The blowback caught him in the face. He was almost lucky he got dropped, gravity pulled him out of the cloud of flame before it could set his hair on fire.

He hit the floor in a heap, rolling onto his back so he could breathe. And cough. Did he have burns in there too? He couldn't tell yet. His head was still ringing, almost too loud to think.

But he saw the look on the Jedi's face. He'd better survive this, because he wanted to remember that.]

You--[Fuck, that hurt.]--All of you kept this from us. [But Jedi weren't the only ones with fancy tricks anymore.]

You're nothing special.

[ He doesn't know how a clone trooper has managed to use the Force if they're modeled after the same man, but right now he doesn't have the luxury of time to devote to that line of thought. He'll unpack all this later. Anakin lets out a humorless laugh, shaking his head despite the painful tug of his skin as he does it. ]

You think you're the only ones the Jedi have lied to? You're a day late and a few credits short. Being 'special' isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Then leave, Jedi. You're allowed to. We aren't.

[He picked up the flint and steel from where he'd dropped them, stowing them away. Not doing that again. He'd have better luck with the knife. He wasn't in any state to keep fighting, but it wasn't like that was going to stop him. He started to haul himself up, gritting his teeth--

And then a creaky voice started chanting from somewhere down the hallway. Apparently the witch was back.

There wasn't much to say beyond a wordless growl of frustration.]

Both of you can get fucked.

[And that. That too.]

Sometimes I wish I could.

[ With everything that's happened recently, Anakin feels trapped. Pulled between what the Jedi Order expects of him while not trusting him, and the nightmares of Padmé's death and the lingering thoughts of what the Chancellor spoke to him about in the darkness of the opera house.

If it were possible to save her from dying, could the Sith actually have the answer? Not for the first time, he regrets killing Dooku. He still doesn't fully understand why he'd done it. That wasn't the Jedi way.. his anger had just gotten the better of him again. The same anger he can feel building in his chest reaches its peak and darkens into rage.

Anakin's glare shifts from the clone trooper crumpled on the ground and to the witch down the hall. He needs to do something. As furious as he is with the trooper, he doesn't want to seriously hurt him. Sith hells, he hadn't wanted to fight him in the first place. Closing the distance between himself and Slick, he points an angry, accusatory finger at him as he stalks past. ]

Stay down!

[ As he starts to close the distance between himself and the witch, he unclips the saber from his belt with practiced ease, igniting the blade. His speed picks up and he cleaves the witch's arms off with one over-arching swing of the blade. Her head follows with another twist of his wrist and he watches it roll across the floor impassively. It didn't help as much as he'd wanted it to. ]

Coward.

[He spits at Skywalker's feet as he passes, then hauls himself up enough to go for the knife. Sword's next, forcing him to follow after the Jedi to retrieve it from where it fell. Not that it's going to do much against a lightsaber. The whole fight seems fucking pointless now.

But he got the sword from Lily, a friend who just turned a length of shitty wrought iron into a blade with a couple words and a magic fucking wand. His face hurts like hell because Fox has been teaching him to use the Force. He's not alone here. He has to remember that. There's people he's warned about the Jedi. And if all else fails, El's been working on resisting mind control. They've got skills he hasn't. They can help.

...El isn't going to be happy when he sees the burns, though.

He's standing upright by the time the witch is hacked apart, jaw set. He can't finish the job here. But maybe others can.]

[ Being called a coward is low on the list of insults he's received, but it still stings at his pride. He doesn't like to turn away from anything. Why else would he have been praised as The Hero With No Fear? He certainly hadn't chosen it.

His face throbs dully, and his arm is still bleeding sluggishly, staining the dark material of his robes. Anakin releases some of that pain into the Force, tries to focus on the task at hand instead of the way his skin feels like it's on fire.

He stares at Slick and disengages the lightsaber before turning his back to him again. ]

I'm done fighting with you. There are other people to worry about right now. Or were the Jedi keeping that from you, too?

[He's just getting dismissed. It's infuriating, the way that it always is when he's helpless to stop something horrible. It's almost too much to bear.

But he did. That was what he'd done before he'd been dumped on his planet. Suck it up and wait for a better moment.]

I can't beat you. That doesn't make you right about us. [And it doesn't mean this is over.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

headed straight for the witches' castle

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