headed straight for the witches' castle

[groundrules]

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

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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 distasteful 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.

Comments

[foxable]

You can throw people into the ceiling with your mind and you're worried about me looking at your knife wound?

[ The sarcasm is flat on his tongue, but he sighs and comes to a stop as asked, putting his hands on his hips. ]

You want to convince him you're no slaver? Stop trying to defend it. It isn't defensible. Doesn't matter why or how or who considered what. He's fucking angry about it, and he's allowed to be angry about it.

[ He paused, then sighed again, and started rolling up his sleeves. All over his arms were elaborate tattoos - some of them glowing with the stealth and protective spells he had activated before coming to this meeting. ]

Okay. Let me put this in some basic terms for you. I am not someone you want to fight with. Not because you couldn't kick my ass - you definitely could - but because it would piss a lot of people off that you do not want to piss off.

I can heal you. Okay? He used my magic to hurt you, it's my job to fix it, regardless of whether I think you're a massive asshole or not. Whether either of you like it, you are now both on the same damn team, and this is the last time either of you are going to hurt each other. We on the same page yet?

[chosenfordarkness]

I didn't want to fight him, and I'm really not in the mood to fight you, either.

[ Anakin pinches the bridge of his nose. Obviously, he's really bad at trying to get his intended point across. ]

I'm the last person that would want to defend it, and I never said he couldn't be angry. He seems to be under the impression that I'm personally responsible. About the only thing I can do is make sure I keep as many of my men alive as possible.

[ Finally, he tersely concedes with a nod of his head. ]

..Fine. So long as the same message gets across to him.

[foxable]

At the moment, you aren't you. Not to him. You're a symbol of everything he's been trying to escape, and he doesn't trust you. He isn't one of your men, here. He isn't a clone or a soldier, he's just one of us, trying to make the best of a bad situation. Just like you.

And like I said to him, you are both here and stuck together whether you like it or not. Unless you feel like going it on your own and being stuck in this world forever.

But you know you've got the upper hand, right? Even with the magic I've been teaching him, when it comes down to a fight, you're the guy bringing a gun to a knife fight. [ A pause. ] Well - you know what I mean. [ Does he, Fox? Does anyone? ]

Here. Give me your arm.

[chosenfordarkness]

Heh. The feeling is mutual. [ Anakin, please. ] I can't be stuck here forever, I've got to go back and deal with things.

[ There are too many things he has to deal with, honestly. All of it feels like it's only been hours since it happened, too fresh in his head and left unfinished. Slick is just one more on the list of people that don't trust him and it's so damn frustrating it makes him want to scream. Never mind that the trooper has a reason for it. To Anakin, it just feels like the knife twists a little more into his back.

He extends his arm toward Fox. His face hurts worse, but if his arm would stop randomly bleeding, that'd be great. ]

You're a strange one, but I get where you're coming from.

[foxable]

[ He will get to the face - bleeding first, then the burns. He mumbles something under his breath and passes fingers over one of his tattoos before pulling out a few leaves. They aren’t plants from home - it took a lot of work to find plants in this world that would work as a substitute. The tattoo starts to glow as he rubbed the small leaf on it, and the glow transfers to it before he takes it to Anakin’s skin next. Slowly, the skin starts stitching back together. He keeps talking while he works: ]

We’re your best bet when it comes to getting home. We’ve all been pulled from elsewhere, and we have been journeying for a while now to find our way back. But time and space doesn’t work the same here, you should know. Even for people from the same world. You might not be from the same timeline.

[ Ah, he’s rambling. He pause, tossing the used leaf away and starting another before reaching up to work on Anakin’s face, way too awkwardly close. Sorry buddy. ]

If you get where I’m coming from, then don’t fucking fight him again. Leave. Walk away. Fly away. Dance, for all I care. Just no fighting.

[chosenfordarkness]

[ He watches Fox closely as he works, it's so different from his experiences in the Halls of Healing at the Jedi Temple. The tattoos on his arm are glowing, and honestly, he's trying to figure out how. It's like he's got bacta for hands. The pain starts to ebb, then the skin stitches together like nothing ever happened. It's pretty damn remarkable. ]

How long have you all been here? [ He has to stop and contemplate that second bit. Time and space doesn't work the same here. What the hell does that even mean? ] How is that even possible? Do you know what causes it?

[ Anakin huffs. ] I've not been known to run away from a fight, but I'll try not to hurt him.

[foxable]

[ Fox frowns at Anakin as he runs his fingers over the man’s face, clearly not impressed. ]

What, you think you’re going to be labeled a coward for deciding not to bash a guy’s skull in with ceiling? For resisting the urge to use your ability to move things with your fucking mind and walking away instead? Get over it.

[ This took a little more time, and there was a slight sheen of sweat appearing on Fox’s brow as he worked. Cuts were simple. Press together, stitch. Burns were almost molecular. And while normally he would be talking someone’s ear off about the process, right now he was too annoyed to try.

… Not too annoyed to get dragged into discussing trans dimensional time travel, though. ]

I’ve been here almost six months. Some of the others longer. We don’t know how we got here, but what I can tell you is that my- the man closest in the whole world to me, Mingyu, arrived here before I did, and remembers a world several later than I do.

[chosenfordarkness]

'Too hot-headed' is usually what comes before the lecture.

[ It's not that he even cares about being called a coward, he just has a hard time being a pacifist. For as much as the Jedi are supposed to be peacekeepers, they're really.. not. Perhaps not anymore, with as involved in the war effort as they are. Anakin's always been combative, even as a youngling trying to fit into the new lifestyle he found himself in. ]

Mingyu, huh? [ He files that name away for later. ] Six months.. since there's no indication how we got here, have there been efforts to try figuring out a way back?