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

---

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

[binghua]

[Well, being threatened with prison time isn't what Xingchen would call a good time, but it could be worse, probably. Luckily, the other guard seems to be a little more reasonable. Xingchen reaches out further and grabs onto the first guard's - Ranulph's, apparently - arm placatingly.]

No, no, it really isn't. I'm just lost. My sense of direction is dreadful.

[His grip tightens on the guard, giving him this opportunity to, hopefully, keep him from acting out, as well as giving Xingchen a sense of how big this man is, as well as where he is in relation to the rest of the guard's body. Just in case.

But then he hears another voice calling out and Xingchen doesn't recognize it, but judging by the situation, she must be one of their group and, thus, on his side. The guard, still gripped by Xingchen, tries to shake him off, but he holds fast. It gives him some time to figure out how to respond to the woman.]

Really, sir, there's no reason to get so upset. But you know how it is. My feet have a mind of their own. We must have gotten separated and then I guessed the wrong way to try and find you again.

[Is that a good enough cover story? The "good" guard seems to think so.]

See? We only need to direct them back upstairs, not jump to conclusions -

[But Ranulph has had enough and finally manages to shove Xingchen off. The forces causes him to stumble and he has to brace himself against the wall again, but the cloth in which his sword at his back is wrapped comes loose, revealing the hilt, Ranulph immediately feels vindicated.]

He has a sword!

[Well. Cover story blown, regardless of acting. Hopefully Ranulph and his partner don't have swords.

Xingchen imagines they do.

So, without giving them any more time to prepare themselves, Xingchen rushes forward, hoping his guestimation about Ranulph's size is relatively right, and aims to elbow him in the stomach. He has no idea if this woman who has found him can fight, so he keeps his ears open for the other guard's location, as well.]

gives you full gustav and ranulph fantasy

[lancifolium]

[ Gustav gasped and looked incredibly disappointed - both in his partner and in the blind stranger they had found wandering by the entrance to the aqueduct.

Ranulph had no time to register his partner's dismay, caught between reaching for his sword and Xingchen's elbow, he was kept too preoccupied with the wheezing 'oof' the stranger's blow had squeezed out of him to notice.

While it might have been a relief that it wasn't her presence that sent the dominos falling, like the guard who was pulling his sword and gripping his gut Lily didn't have time to register it.

Her wand zigged through the air in a swift and practiced motion. Gustav hurled back down the corridor the way he and Ranulph had come, having caught a Knockback Jinx in the chest. ]

I'm blessed

[binghua]

[Amid the chaos he has caused, Xingchen registers the sound of what he assumes is the other guard stumbling...farther away? He can't make much sense of it right now. There is the recognizable scrape of steel trying to escape its sheath, however, that he can make sense of, so Xingchen reaches out and fumbles to forcefully shove it back in. He throws all his weight against Ranulph and pins him against the wall as well as he can while also keeping his hand on that sword hilt.]

Don't. I'm not going to kill either of you.

[At least, he really doesn't want to.]

We're not here to cause you trouble. Just calm down and forget you saw us.

[It's not likely to persuade him, so Xingchen continues to think of ways to incapacitate him safely. He's used to dealing with ghosts or other supernatural creatures, not living people.]

[lancifolium]

[ Cutting a path towards the gentleman from their group, Lily gave him a bit of space, uncertain if she would surprise him and not wanting to find out that she had by being swung at. ]

Let him go, I can keep him still.

[ And as soon as he does, she aims her wand at Gustav. ]

Petrificus Totalus.

[ Then, Gustav tips over like a log, which made Lily wince, but the other man draws her attention quickly. ]

Are you alright? Come on, he'll be like that for a few hours.

[binghua]

[Let him go? But that sounds like a terrible idea! And yet there's something confident in her voice, something that makes him think that maybe it'll be okay. So he gives the guard one more shove for good measure before backing away.

The words are meaningless to him, but the resounding thud of the man hitting the ground gives him enough context. Some sort of spell or talisman, he would wager.]

I am, but is he? Are they? What happened?

[lancifolium]

[ Uncertain if he needed her help or not she reached for his arm and hesitated a moment later. It wouldn't be very helpful to end up getting attacked because she caught the stranger unawares. That had happened just about enough for her liking since her arrival in this world ]

They're fine. Can you get away? Do you need a hand?

[ Gustav was still conscious, though he was petrified stiff on the floor and would be for at least a few hours - and Lily guessed Ranulph would be back long before that happened. She had only thrown the man with a Knockback Jinx, not wanting to hurt him so much as get him out of the way, but he wouldn't be collecting himself forever. ]

[binghua]

[Xingchen hopes he can trust her. Trust is hard-won, though, even if he gives it easily. But she's right. They need to leave or else this will have been for nothing.]

I'm all right. Just a little turned around.

[He thinks if they retreat to the rear of where he's standing, then everything will be fine, but after this excitement, he's not too sure.

He turns around as if to head in that direction, though. Hopefully, if he's heading into some obvious trap, she'll be kind enough correct him.]

[lancifolium]

We can't have gotten too far away from everyone else, they were just down this way.

[ Lily touched his arm, gently leading him around a turn before her hand fell to her side again. ]

I'm Lily by the way.

[ It was an awkward place for an introduction, but she wasn't going to be rude. ]

[binghua]

[Good. She seems to know where to go. Xingchen allows himself to be led, at least until they arrive at what he assumes is a more straight path. Still, he reaches out to touch the wall, just to be sure he doesn't end up wandering off on accident.

They must be far enough out of earshot of the incapacitated guards if she's going to resort to decorum. Xingchen breathes easy with this knowledge.]

Xiao Xingchen.

[Feeling that they should be safe enough walking for now, he takes the sword from his back and starts to fiddle with the cloth covering it. If it gave him away once, there's always a chance it can do so again. But as he does, that name rolls around in his mind. Lily. He's heard it before, though he's sure he's never spoken to this woman.]

Are you a friend of Wei Wuxian's, by chance?

[lancifolium]

Oh, yes! Wei Wuxian's a good sort of bloke, isn't it?

[ Lily brightened at the mention of her friend. They had spent some time together, especially during the journey to Taravast, and she held the man in very high esteem. If Xiao Xingchen was also a friend that spoke very well of him in Lily's thinking.

Keeping half her attention focused on where they were going, retracing the steps she had taken after separating from the group to follow after Xingchen's voice she watched him make adjustments to the fabric-wrapped sword. ]

Is it yours? Why do you carry it like that?

[ She wasn't the sword sort, but everyone she had seen here who wore or otherwise carried their weapons of choice with ease. Xingchen's method was a curiosity, and she couldn't help ask after it. ]

[binghua]

He is.

[Which is odd for Xingchen to say so easily, considering Wei Wuxian's reputation in his world. How he's the Yiling Laozu, one of the cultivation world's biggest boogey men, a morality tale to frighten children into going to bed on time or eating their vegetables. Xingchen shouldn't trust him, and yet the man has done nothing but care for him while they've been in this world. And Xingchen has even gone so far as to claim him as one of his own. It's foolish, for sure, and goes against everything he ever learned.]

He speaks highly of you, as well.

[More specifically, that Lily is someone Xingchen can trust if he needs to speak of his own feelings, considering everything that's come to light as of late. But creepy tunnels with suspicious guards are hardly the place to start bonding so intimately.

His sword becomes the next topic of interest, and Xingchen's fingers freeze for a moment in their work, but he smiles softly all the same.]

It is. It also garners attention, as we've just experienced back there. I'd rather not put any of us in unnecessary situations if I can help it. Better to have people wonder what's on a silly blind man's back than immediately feel threatened by what is clearly a weapon.

[lancifolium]

Hopefully, we'll be able to catch up with everyone, and nobody will need to know what's on your back.

[ Lily had no idea what they were in store for, but if it was anything like what was regularly in store for the group the traveled with, she had a feeling eventually at least a few might become privy to the fact that the blind man she walked with was armed.

Catching sight of a split in the path Lily took Xingchen's arm again. ]

The road divides into two ahead, but I think I hear everyone to the left.

[ She almost wished there was a path of dispatched guards to follow, though she was relieved nobody in their group had run into enough trouble to necessitate a thing like that. ]